


Star Killer

by dentigerous, wraithnoir



Series: The Corruption of Ben Solo [6]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Abuse of Authority, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Corruptor Hux, F/M, Hux Backstory, M/M, Smuggler Ben Solo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-17
Updated: 2016-11-23
Packaged: 2018-08-23 02:29:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 49,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8310259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dentigerous/pseuds/dentigerous, https://archiveofourown.org/users/wraithnoir/pseuds/wraithnoir
Summary: Kylo Ren has stepped down on the massive planet-base Star Killer and suddenly, without warning, has had a change of heart. He has to warn the resistance.  He has to fight to recover, has to fight for himself, has to fight everyone and everything around him. Arrik is left behind, and they both feel the sting of betrayal as they try to find new footing. Then they go to assist Colonel Joran Barril, one of Arrik Hux's oldest friends and old jealousies pop up again. Arrik Hux and Kylo Ren have to learn to trust each other again, but that trust was hard-won, and not likely to return overnight.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all so much for the lovely comments and the support. Say hi [here](tigernoir.tumblr.com) or just leave a comment. ; )

Only a day or two later (it was hard to tell on this planet, the strange shifts of an unstable sun that could cast long shadows at any time), and Ben Solo had made up his mind. He was leaving.

The man was not used to having places he was not allowed to go, but now that he was on Star Killer Base, he was finding locked doors, locked systems, areas that his code cylinders wouldn’t give him access to with heavy, clamped doors that would have made too much of a mess to open with the Force if he didn’t want everyone knowing what he was doing. The locked doors said enough, since he was aware that he wouldn’t necessarily understand the tech that they hidden behind them. The doors said it very simply- _there are secrets here, and they are not for you, Ben Solo._ Sometimes he pressed his gloved hand to the chilled metal and felt the hum of the weapon’s heart. But that wasn’t the secret.

He trained in an effort to exhaust himself, but sleep eluded him for several nights running. He was glad of the helmet and the way it hid his worried eyebrows and the dark skin around his eyes. When he did see Arrik, the general was as busy as he’d promised. He was never stationary; he was coming from a meeting or on his way to an inspection, and while he was invited to walk with the general or his company, he was often met with a closed door when they arrived.

Wherever he walked, he was painfully aware of how dead the planet was below his feet. Every step echoed up through his body as though his own bones were hollow. The disturbance in the Force made him feel sick whenever food was delivered to his room. When he took off his helmet at night and looked at his face in the small mirror bolted to the wall, he no longer saw Kylo Ren. Ben Solo met his eyes and they both pressed their lips in a moment’s helpless worry.

The planet had no coordinates that he could find. No distinguishing characteristics that the First Order hadn’t carved into it, no other moons or planets around it to help him identify where he was in the galaxy. Even the stars were in an unfamiliar pattern, courtesy of their foray into the deeper parts of unknown space.

One morning, he caught up with Hux while the general walked briskly down the hallway to another locked door. He’d tracked him there, using knowledge of his usual schedule and the feel of the man that resonated in his head.

“General.”

Hux regarded Kylo Ren curiously. He stopped, dismissed the officer walking with him, and put his pad behind his back, expectant.

“Yes, Lord Ren?”

“I’ve been spending a lot of time wandering the base, not bothering your crew, as requested.” He stepped up closer to the general, smelling the distinctive clean of Hux’s choice in shaving gel and soap. “However, without any information, I don’t find that I’m learning as much as I believe I should be about the operations of the weapon.”

Hux found the phrasing slightly amusing, and he raised his eyebrows as Kylo Ren spoke. Did the man want praise for keeping his hands to himself? Instead, Hux twisted his mouth and shrugged.

“The operations of the weapon are military business,” he said, not at all concerned. “But I would be happy to answer any questions you have.”

“When you have a minute free from your meetings, I’d like a tour of the facility. You know I have an interest in mechanics; I’d be interested in knowing the scope and strength of the weapon,” Kylo answered, hands in tight fists by his side, though his voice didn’t betray anything.

Hux hummed, watching the mask of Kylo’s helmet carefully. He tilted his head to side slightly and then took a deep breath.

“There is an entire planet of mechanics, Lord Ren. You’ll have to be more specific about what you want to know.” He glanced down at his pad and pulled up his schedule. “However, I can give you a brief tour of the main facility, including walking around parts of the beam generator.”

“Yes...I’m very interested in seeing how you target multiple planets at once.That seems like quite a feat.” Ben watched the bright fan of Hux’s eyelashes when he looked down. “What’s the closest system anyway?”

“There are none of note, considering most maps haven’t reached this far.” Hux said, noting a few hours when he could arrange to be available for Kylo Ren. “We recreated this system to suit our purposes, I’m not even sure it had a name recorded before we came here. This area is outside of the common coordinate system used by most computers.”

Of course it was.

“It was a stroke of luck for whoever found it. I’d be interested in reading accounts of the actual excavations of the planet.” He heard it when he closed his eyes, the clawing and scraping inside the planet’s core, drilling through the dying planet’s foundation. He remembered how it had felt when he’d first let the dark side rise up through him, how it had felt like clawing at the inside of his rib cage. He imagined it had been the same.

“Star Killer used to be a small base in the Sewkausen system, but has since moved further away from the hyperlanes. The planet was ideal, but the sun and system, as well as the attention of interlopers, forced us to transfer Star Killer to another quadrant entirely.”

“Impressive,” Ben said blandly, though his eyes widened slightly in frustration, unseen. “I was aware of some of the Order’s advanced technology, but much of this is beyond the capabilities of most of the galaxy.” No name, no coordinates. Of course not. “Well, I look forward to seeing more of the heart of the weapon.”

“Mmm,” Hux hummed, sending Ren the tour request time and meeting area. “It’s a marvellous thing.” He smirked slightly and then looked at Ren, eyebrows up.”Is there anything else I can help you with?”

Slowly, very slowly, Ben shook his head as he watched Hux’s pale, almost amused eyes. He wasn’t going to tell him anything. He could take him on a tour into the mechanical guts of this planet, and Ben would come out still knowing absolutely nothing about it apart from its power and purpose.

“That will suffice, general,” he said finally.

“I’m at your service, Lord Ren,” Hux said quietly, inclining his head. His pad beeped insistently and he sighed, looking at the screen again. “Until I’m at the service of everyone else.”

Hux stood up straight, nodding again towards Ren. “Let me know if anything comes up,” He said, already turning to walk down the hallway.

He was different here, Ben realized, colder, firmer, as though the cold climate of the planet had chilled and frozen certain things about him. His head was eternally tilted slightly up as if to see the coming of a greater being, or to make sure he was always looking down at those lesser than himself. But then, he himself was different here; the fight at the center of his core was back, now that he was standing on the weapon they called Star Killer. He’d thought he’d banished the light in himself, but he knew this feeling for what this was. This sudden fear and need to correct an error, more than an error. To prevent the loss of billions of lives, to stop the spread of this thing, this power that would eat a planet from the inside out.

He couldn’t wait to be delayed by tours without information and meals he couldn’t eat. He had to alert someone that this monstrosity was hanging in space with its sight set on the Hosnian system, and he had to get off of it as soon as possible. Ben turned and walked in the opposite direction the general had, back toward his assigned rooms. He would call his mother, first and foremost; she had the most contacts and the most credibility. After that, his clearance would allow him to take a ship and leave the planet surface. He’d figure out his destination once he had put some distance between himself and this place.

Striding into his room and locking the door behind himself, Ben fumbled to pull his helmet off as he walked over to the comm unit. He tossed it over onto his bed, feeling a little ridiculous for wearing it. What the hell did he need a helmet for? He leaned over the comm unit, typing in his access code. The screen took a strangely long time to boot up and he leaned back with his arms folded over his chest while he waited. He decided that he would use one of the smugglers’ channels to mask his call from the First Order. It was also more likely that Senator Organa would pick up a smuggler’s transmission than one sent from the Order.

The unit beeped and Ben frowned as he looked at the message that had popped up on the screen.

“There’s no way my access was denied,” he muttered to himself. “I’m a kriffing Knight of Ren.” He leaned down, typing his code in again. Maybe he’d just entered something wrong, he told himself over the growing sense of foreboding. He swore and punched the screen when the message came up again. Impossible. Someone was already restricting his movements.

Ben grabbed his lightsaber from where it sat on the table by his narrow bed, clipping it to his belt as he looked around. He picked up his old bag and slung it over his shoulder before heading to the door. It would seem strange if he was suddenly out in the halls without his helmet on, he realized, turning back to grab it from the bed and fit it over his head. Inside, his breathing seemed loud in his own ears as he walked out and toward the hangar bay closest to his rooms.

It was difficult not to give into a lifetime of instinct and run to get away from a bad situation. But Kylo Ren didn’t run anywhere, so Ben squared his shoulders and walked, quickly, toward his destination. He knew that no one would question him when he demanded a ship. Unless that was a new restriction as well. No matter. If someone tried to stop him, it wasn’t as if he didn’t have any advantages on his side in a fight.

He was unchallenged as he strode through the hallways, hearing his boots as too loud as he walked. He turned a sharp corner toward the hangar, exhaling in tentative relief. He was almost through. He was almost there. Once on board a ship, he could disable the First Order tracking tech and get a call through to his mother on the ship’s high-range radio.

Despite himself, Ben took the last corner at a jog, losing his composure a little bit as he got closer. He took a sharp breath and stopped himself when he was suddenly face to face with the one person he didn’t want to meet. Slowing to a walk, he continued forward a few steps.

“General.”

Hux tilted his head up, narrowing his eyes, hands behind his back. They were alone in the sterile hallway, behind him was the main hangar bay that housed ships and shuttles, in front of him, the main conduit to the expanse of Star Killer Base. He was confident, guarded, cold.

“Where are you going, Kylo?” He asked mildly, voice soft and sharp.

“I’m exploring, as I was told I should do,” Ben replied evenly. He stopped walking and held himself very still, watching everything about the man in front of him. His expression, his stance, his ice cold eyes. “As you recall, general, I don’t answer to you.”

“That is partially true,” Hux said, still not looking away from Kylo Ren. “But you’ve already been through this particular area of the base. Perhaps you’ve gotten turned around.” He shrugged once, casual, calculated, eyes fixated on the Knight in front of him. “I’d recommend that you explore new ground.”

“I believe I’m entitled to a second look. A second opinion.” Ben was distinctly aware of the details around him. The weight of his bag against his hip, the hard edge of the lightsaber against his elbow, the slight echo of his modulated voice in the hallway. “Besides, I’m sure you’re late for several important meetings.”

“Do not attempt to move me, Ren,” Hux said, and although he kept his voice mild, it had a sharper edge to it. “Where are you going?”

“Arrik…” Ben swallowed and licked his lips. “What in the nineteen hells are you doing here?” He raised one hand, a supplicating gesture that Kylo Ren would have never made. “This is...you can’t do this.”

Hux didn’t move, remained unchanged. “Quite the opposite,” his absolutism was incredible. He truly believed every word he said, believed in its importance and the need for it all. “I am the only one who can. This base will allow the First Order to tame the chaos of the universe.”

“You’re talking about destroying planets. Wiping out entire systems!” Ben took another step closer. “You can’t do this. It’s not...this isn’t what we talked about. This isn’t what we wanted. Arrik, you wouldn’t...actually fire this kriffing thing!”

Frowning, Hux stared at Ben as if he didn’t know him, didn’t recognize him at all. His jaw set for a second before he shook his head.

“This is what we spoke about. Controlling the universe comes at a price, destruction of the senate is the only way forward. If anything remains of them, there will always be a Resistance that clings to the scaps of a broken ideal.” He was still frowning deeply. “Sometimes, there needs to be a clean slate before the stronger power can step in and rebuild. From the fractured ashes of Hosnian Prime, the First Order will rise, whole, unchallenged, and the way forward will be clear.”

“That isn’t…” Ben pressed his mouth, momentarily at a loss in the face of Arrik’s complete fanaticism, his unbending adherence to First Order tenets that meant the destruction of billions of lives. This wasn’t just planets without names, sentients he’d never known. “Arrik, what we talked about. You and me. This wasn’t part of it.” He swallowed. “Come with me. Let’s go. Let’s not do this.”

The creases along Hux’s brow were gouged deeply into his face. He shook his head once.

“No.”

Ben had known what he’d say, had felt it shivering along the space between them. It shouldn’t have been any surprise; it had been there all along. He’d asked him, so long ago now, on the _Finalizer_ , on the firing range. You’d shoot me, wouldn’t you? You’d pull the trigger? And Arrik had said yes, he’d always said yes. That yes was the same as this no. Ben rolled his shoulders and put his hand to his belt. It had always been his blaster by his side. Now his gloved palm was ready for his lightsaber.

“Then you have two choices.” The blade hummed as it sprang to life from the hilt, reflecting red against the dark surfaces that surrounded them. “You can step aside. Or you can fight.”

Despite the situation, Hux found himself very close to rolling his eyes. Dramatic to the end.

“I’m not going to fight you.” His voice was almost amused, as if Ben had just told a joke. Ridiculous. Fight Ben Solo with only a small sidearm when the Knight held a lightsaber in hand and had the Force crawling out his skin? Absolutely not.

Ben stepped forward, knees slightly bent. He was ready for a fight, whether Hux was willing or not. “Then get out of my way.”

“I will not.” Hux said, eyebrows flicking up again.

Ben shook his head; behind the helmet, his eyebrows were drawn low and worried over his eyes. The lightsaber spat and hissed in its uneven rotation, but his hands were steady.

“Arrik. Don’t make me do this.”

Even faced against an impossible enemy, a man on the edge of reason, Hux was unafraid. The tunneled-out hallway was small, with barely enough room for two people to walk side by side. It made the distance between seem that much less.

“I am not forcing your hand,” Hux said. “Turn around.”

“I don’t answer to you, Arrik.” Ben spun the lightsaber by his side before holding it before him again. “But I don’t want to hurt you.” In that moment, it was true. All the times he’d imagined Hux in the heat of his jungle, bleeding and panting, pushed against the wall hard enough to bruise his hips, whenever he had wanted to hit Arrik hard enough to knock him down, they all melted away. He didn’t want to hurt anyone. Not right now. That wasn’t what this was. He swallowed harshly. “Just let me pass.”

“I will not be moved!” The order snapped like a whip, like the recoil of a gun. Arrik’s voice rang through the narrow hall, sure and confident. “Return to your rooms, Kylo Ren.”

Ben looked down for a moment, hurt expression masked by his dark helmet. He took a deep breath as he looked up. “I can’t do that, general.” He began walking toward Hux, each step measured, lightsaber ready. He had to back down; there was no way Hux would put himself in the way of this weapon. «Arrik, please.»

«Or you'll kill me?» Hux asked, eyes narrowed. The long hallway now seemed short, with only meters in between them now. Hux wasn't sweating, his face wasn't flushed, he was under perfect control, every part of his body held absolute.

«Just let me leave. That was always the deal. I could leave whenever I wanted to go.» Ben stopped again, holding the saber slightly lower.

«The deal has changed, Lord Ren.» The title was almost a taunt. “Turn back or strike me down.”

“Damn you, Arrik.” Ben walked forward again, bringing up his left hand to throw Hux against the wall. He didn’t want to kill him. He couldn’t kill him.

He strode past the general’s slumped body, hoping the man knew enough to stay down. The hangar doors opened for him and he walked through quickly, flicking his lightsaber off as he did though he kept it ready in his hand.

The entire bay was empty of life; there were no maintenance crews or pilots, no stormtroopers or overseeing officers. Ben licked his lips as he walked in, feeling the low energy. He walked over to a console beside one of the smaller transport ships, slapping the power switch. The console screens remained dark, as did the ship beside it.

It was too much; there couldn’t have been this much preparation for a decision he had only just made himself. Swallowing around the lump in his throat, he moved to the next ship, but it was just as black, just as dead; he fought with the console for a minute before giving. All the tech had been turned off, completely. He realized that the only lights on where the emergency halobars along the ground, dull lamps above.

Back up generators. Bare-bones power. The whole hangar, ships included, had been shut down entirely. He stood and looked up at the ceiling for a long minute, feeling out of breath and trapped.

Steps echoed through the empty bay as General Hux walked through, headed towards Kylo Ren. He glared at the Knight, his cold rage even more frigid than the icy tendrils that seeped into the storage area. Some of his hair had come out from his part, and his mask had slipped low.

“I warned you, Ren!” Hux yelled, his steps keeping military pace, unwavering, “I told you!”

Ben turned sharply to watch the man’s approach, grip tightening on the hilt of his lightsaber. He felt like he was suffocating in his helmet, as he had when he’d first learned to wear it while fighting. His bag was heavy where it lay over his back, the edge of the coupler digging into him through the heavy fabric.

“I thought you understood!” he shouted back then gasped for his next breath. “We had a deal and I’m calling it in now!”

“Six months have passed!” Hux responded, eyes on the dark figure in front of him. “I will not allow you to endanger the First Order simply because you haven’t the taste for war!”

“This isn’t war! Arrik, this is just...mindless slaughter!” Ben pointed to the ship beside him with the hilt of his lightsaber. “Activate this ship. Now.”

“I will not,” even as Hux said it, the truth rang out, that he couldn’t, that they were all offline, that it was all dark, that nothing would work or respond, even to him, the paramount master of this entire world.

“You have two choices, Kylo.” His footsteps echoed, his voice carried through the entire hangar. “Come with me, or run.”

Ben swallowed, eyes wide, mind scrambling. He couldn’t stay here. It went against everything in his person; the very planet felt wrong beneath his feet. He watched Arrik stalking towards himfor another second, wordlessly asking him to say something else, to remember that they had wanted more and less than this. There was no hesitation in the other man’s expression. Ben watched him a breath longer, then turned and ran for the side maintenance door. He knew there was an outdoor launch area; he’d seen it on the surface level schematics he’d been given access to. If he could make it there, maybe any ships there wouldn’t be grounded by the system.

Once outside, he fumbled to pull his helmet off, carrying it in his hand while he gulped down huge lungfuls of icy air. He glanced back once at the closed door before setting off over the rocky, snow-covered ground. As he walked, he was struck by the strange sense he’d been there before, out in the frozen emptiness, looking over his shoulder.

At that moment, he recognized it. The frost world from Hux’s dream, the icy air that had warred with his own dream’s lush jungle heat. This was the actual place; he’d known about it for months without knowing.

Hux didn't follow Ben; for the moment the traitor was alone.

This had started when Arrik first felt the shudder that had wracked through Kylo Ren when they arrived on Star Killer. It had been their closeness that allowed Arrik to see so much of Kylo, understand him and know him even before Kylo knew himself. Arrik had closed himself off from Ren, allowed Kylo to be kept distant on purpose, taking on a new persona of expectations made man to easily to distract Kylo from what Hux had been planning for nearly a week, preparing for this moment when Kylo would turn tail. He had hoped it wouldn’t happen, but Arrik Hux had learned long ago not to rely too heavily on hope.

Outside, Ben stopped, turned around. He was half lost in his own memory, or those of Arrik’s, and he frowned, gripping the lightsaber in his hand tightly, refocusing.

«Hello, _Ben_.» It was another voice, feminine, gravelly, all too familiar, who spoke into his mind.

Ben spun around, not expecting that voice, not expecting that name, not expecting that sudden presence where he hadn’t felt her before. In an instant, the mental walls he’d left down all this time to make it easier for Hux to speak with him snapped back up. He’d been lax, foolish.

“Sa’marha.” Saying her name aloud seemed to summon her. What was she doing on this planet? When had she arrived?

She stood on the tundra, only ten meters from him, silent for a few seconds, just watching Kylo. Her staff was in her hand, although it was not turned on. She was imposing, with her strangely carved helmet, her cloak flapping the icy breeze. Mar’s presence was different, her powers stronger, honed to a sharper point. With Ben so distracted and distressed it had been easy to hide her presence and intentions from the man who would be her leader.

“You should have listened to the general,” she said, her own voice distorted by her vocoder, making her sound neutral and threatening at the same time. “You have left me no choice.”

Ben watched her, the stark figure she presented against the snow. He hadn’t been this close to her in too long; he’d lost track of her progression and could no longer match it against his. The darkness in her seemed a surprise to him, though he’d been instrumental in showing her how to harness her abilities.

“No choice?” He raised his chin slightly, feeling the cold air on his bare face. “No choice but what, Mar? When did he call you here?”

“You will not listen, you will not turn back, you must be destroyed.” Her vocoder did a good job of hiding her hurt, her anger and the betrayal she felt, but her mental walls let her emotions seep through, dark shadows against the snowy background. She stepped forward slowly, her staff suddenly alight by her side, not looking away from Kylo Ren. There was much more that she could say, but her mouth was shut tightly, her walls secured by hatred, and as she turned her staff on she felt that one of them would die in the snow.

“Mar.” Ben shook his head. He didn’t want to kill her either, this Knight who he knew better than all the others, who had been the first to believe in him and his power. «Sa’marha, first of my Knights. You know me. Why won’t you trust me now?» The hum of her staff was like the purr of a great predator, waiting, watching. He didn’t turn his lightsaber on.

«Your actions speak for themselves.» She stepped forward again, only a few meters away from him, waiting. «Why are you running?»

«Mar, you can feel it. This planet is dead, rotted out. Do you know what Star Killer is? What they plan to do with it? It’s not...right. Mar, you can feel it. You can feel it through the Force, what an abomination it is.» He grasped at the light and felt it shudder away from the planet even as it clung to him after being pushed away for so long. His anger felt petty and slight compared to this and the dark side fell away before his conviction.

«When did you become so weak?» She sounded disgusted, furious, «You helped show me how to use the Force as a tool, and now you act as if you are its slave!»

«This isn’t about weakness! This is about billions of lives! This isn’t just ordering and ruling the galaxy, this is about destroying it. You know that’s not right!» Ben shook his head, shifting his grip on his lightsaber.

«You must destroy to rebuild. You must bring new order out of chaos.» She was Zabrak, she had heathen Dathomir magic inside her, dark forces that were older and stronger than she was, raised by the ancient Mothers and Sisters she had never known. These were tenets she had seen play out in the past lives of her Sisters, in the future of her own bright star.

The wind whipped around them, and she spun her staff from side to side, the humming growing louder, sharp sparks of purple tinged electricity running along its edges. «I wish it could be different, Kylo Ren.»

She crouched and then jumped forward, across the short distance between them, using the Force to guide her legs, push her farther, faster, her staff already out and pointed towards Ben.

In an instant, he’d dropped his helmet into the snow and spun away, lightsaber crackling to life as the main blade shot up from the hilt, crimson and jagged, before the crossguard relieved the pressure on the cracked crystal. Mar’s staff was one of the only weapons that could stand up to his lightsaber, and he knew that she was very aware of it. It was likely one of the reasons she was the one here, sent to face down her leader.

The fight was fast-moving, the Force aiding both as they met with their weapons clashing before one of them broke away again. He recognized how strong she’d become, but he was also very aware of her small weaknesses; he allowed them to pass because he didn’t want to hurt her, didn’t want to kill her.

“Mar, stop this!” he shouted at her when they’d both leapt away from a deadlocked position, weapons held against one another until they had to make the same decision to break away. “This isn’t what’s supposed to happen!” His loose hair was whipped into his face by the wind and he raised one thoughtless hand to push it out of his eyes.

As he moved his hand, hers shot up in that instant, pushing him further into the beginnings of the forest. She jumped to meet him again, swinging her electro staff to match his light saber.

«I have scryed the future! I have looked further,» she let her anger take hold, pressing against Ben, hurting, furious, strong. «I know more!»

Ben knew he needed to fight back if he didn’t want to die here, out in the pale snow their fight was disturbing for the first time. He watched her mask, the blank darkness of it, and remembered how it felt when she smirked in his head. That was gone and this was what they had left.

“You don’t know anything, Mar! You’ve barely glimpsed what’s happening right now! How could you know the future?” He parried her swing with a short movement, knocking her back a step then following her forward. The future was nothing, it was a black hole, it never existed. The anger was welling up inside him again, twisted around the rest of his emotions and muddying up his intentions.

He was a flurry of blows coming against her, meeting her swings with his own blade. His movements were less concerned with her safety as he managed to burn her left arm with a small cut as he turned into her when she wasn’t expecting it. She was strong, but she wasn’t as strong as he was when he was angry, cornered, desperate. He turned on her all the confused feelings that were storming inside him.

He took advantage of her raised arms not to attack with his lightsaber, but to shove her back and put her off balance before charging her again.

Mar managed to block his attacks, fast on her fight, almost so light that her feet barely touched the ground, leaving almost no imprint in the snow. She gasped as she slid back, turning to the side, throwing her own hand out to help steady herself, catching a tree limb.

Ben reached his hand out, palm out and fingers outstretched, before twisting his wrist and yanking his fist back in toward his side. The branch Mar was clinging to for balance was ripped away from the tree and forced down to the ground, dragging the Knight with it.

«Stay down, Sa’marha Ren,» Ben growled into her head, the darkness forcing itself up in him, whispering promises of how it could be used in this fight he’d undertaken for the light.

Mar twisted, landing on the ground with her hands and feet underneath her. She took a deep breath and then, without even standing fully, used her force to jump towards Ben again, her cloak ripping off.

She yelled as she clashed again with the taller man, wisps of green smoke coming from under her clothing, seeping from her mask’s filter as she fought harder, pushing herself to the extent of her abilities. Sa’marha beat back the pain, used it fuel her movements. She swung hard, trying to keep Ben running, moving back, trying to wear him down.

Ben was sharp from the build up to this moment, the creeping around and fruitless questions built up a frustration in him that only found release in movement, in combat, and having something to hit. Someone to strike at. So much the better if that someone was trying to kill you first.

The staff was heavy and Mar handled it well, just as she’d trained with him on another planet with no name. He felt the catch and reverberation whenever their weapons clashed, and he roared as he pushed her back. Without his helmet, his face was open, all his expressions unhidden. On a long spin to the side, he followed the Force flow of her movements and let his lightsaber dip lower, catching the side of her calf and ripping upward before he slammed the front of her helmet with the heavy, still unfinished hilt of his lightsaber.

She staggered back, dropping to one leg, her staff still held in front of her. He hadn’t cut a tendon, but he had ripped into her muscles in a way that she couldn’t heal or use her force to ignore. Shaking her head, Mar made another noise and stood up again, staff held tight, only a few spots of blood on the white ground.

Mar spun her staff left and then right, then back again, taunting Ben, daring him to step closer. She pressed on, one more step forward, growling, teeth bared. Even injured she refused to stop.

The snow around their feet was trampled and ugly now, the top layer kicked away to reveal the harder, packed snow beneath. Ben watched Mar advance for a moment, closing his eyes for a grounding second. He wanted to feel the light as he had a moment before, to feel compassion in the tragedy of this moment. But her betrayal, Arrik’s betrayal, the lack of faith he was allowed to have in the galaxy pressed in on him instead.

He never gave her time to find her footing, using his size advantage to push her back bodily while she struggled with one brutally injured leg. He was too fast for her in this state, coming down on her left side hard with the lightsaber; when she met it with her staff, he spun around her side before she could recover and slashed down the left side of her back, his saber searing her from shoulder blade down to the bottom of her ribcage. It wasn’t a fatal blow, but it was definitely a strike to end a fight.

Mar was driven to her knees with a cry, her left side in such pain that she could no longer hold her electrostaff properly. She turned on her knees, trying to get purchase as she swung wildly with her staff, still trying to drive Ben further.

It was almost too easy to bring his lightsaber down hard on her electrostaff, knocking it down into the snow out of her hand. He raised his other hand, dragging her away from her weapon with the Force. With an almost dismissive gesture, he threw her down and walked around her, watching as she struggled upright again.

She hadn’t landed a single blow on him.

“Stay down, Sa’marha Ren,” he shouted over the rising wind. It was always a storm at this time of day, the white flakes starting to swirl around them. He turned his lightsaber by his side, out of breath and fierce.

The Zabrak’s breathing was labored, struggling through the pain of two significant wounds. She made a brief attempt to stand but fell back, sitting on her haunches, her left side rendered useless, her leg unable to take her weight.

She shifted again, looking up at Kylo Ren, angry but not defeated. She swallowed and raised her hand, but the electrostaff didn’t come to her hand, rolling on the ground uselessly.

“Kill me, Kylo Ren,” she almost spat the name, tilting her head up. “Or I will keep coming after you.”

The darkness roared up within him, though it whispered rationalizations. She was speaking the truth; there was a tenacity to Sa’marha Ren that had nothing to do with what Snoke had taught her. It ran through her veins, the living will of her long-gone Nightsister heritage. He was protecting not just himself with her death. The smell of her burned flesh had already been blown away on the winter winds Star Killer had whipped up around them.

“Just stop, Mar,” he pleaded, shaking his head as he stepped closer to her again. “You trusted me before. Why not now?”

“Kill me!” Mar screamed, struggling again, and the electrostaff came back to her hand. In a second, Ben smashed it out of her weakened grip with his lightsaber. She cried out, twisting to the side, falling to the ground, unable to maintain her hold.

It would be so easy, he knew, so easy to kill her and let the coming storm cover her body with snow. She’d never be found out here. Who even knew she was on this weapon disguised as a world? More people than knew he was here.

Ben took a deep breath and looked down at her, the two sides battling inside him again. It would never go away, he realized, this battle inside him, and that made him sick and angry. With a strangled cry, he raised his lightsaber in a two-handed grip over his head.

Mar lifted her chin up and Ben was thrown backwards, saber wrenched to the side. The pressure hadn't come from Mar, and slowly, through the oncoming storm, the Knights of Ren appeared before their former leader.

There were six of them that came out from the storm, Betuo and Marden Ren framed Sa’marha on either side, both their arms raised towards Ben. Zayrâl and Noxen were closer to Ben, and Gadelon and their newest recruit, the one who was named Ephreen-Aun’la and might be known by another name now, they all appeared in front of Ben Solo.

For the first time in a few months, the entire cadre of Knights stood together, but they did not stand in faith but in the midst of something else. Mar somehow got her electrostaff back, and she used it as a cane, pushing herself to standing. Betuo, Marden, Noxen and Zayrâl put their hands up, focusing on Ben, stronger than they were just four months ago, speaking to each other quickly, silently.

Mar shifted slightly, taking a limping step backwards, and the six whole Knights stepped forward, forming a semicircle around Ben, forcing him back further, all their combined powers concentrated on pushing Ben back.

«It could have been different.» She said, cutting through the pressure. «I tried to spare you.»

Ben fought back against his Knights, knowing them and their weaknesses. His lightsaber was out, but he held onto the hilt tightly, throwing both hands up to combat the intense Force pressure that was pushing in on him. He staggered back a few steps, then set his heels again. There was no real opening, no weakness that was vulnerable enough for him to break through. He knew that if he could just break one, their attack would crumble.

But they were a wall before him, guarding one another’s potential weak spots. As he’d shown them they could do. Ben gasped and tried to catch his breath, pushing back against them with all the energy he could draw up through himself. But his own sense of the Force was muddled as the constant war between light and dark continued to tear up the battleground at his core. He was losing ground, losing strength. Impossibly, the edges of his vision were darkening as he fought back against the six.

«Mar! Stop this now!»

«It could have been different,» Mar repeated once more before retreating into her own consciousness, closing her eyes and tilting her helmeted head upwards. She didn’t say it, but it was her first reaction. It wasn’t up to her.

Standing with all his defences trained on the onslaught of the six Knights, Ben wasn’t prepared for the claws that tore at him from the inside. Supreme Leader Snoke’s voice rang out, clearly in Ben’s head and in all the Knights.

«Kylo Ren.» Snoke’s voice was enveloping and absolute. The Knights held down Kylo’s limbs, one for each arm and leg, another pressing against his head, the last on his chest. They held him still, kept his Force from moving, kept his struggles to nothing. These Knights whom he had trained were using their powers against him, an avalanche of focus and fury amid the soundless storm that blew through the birch forest.

Ben groaned aloud, closing his eyes against the sharp voice in his head. He stopped defending himself from the Knights, letting their power shove him down into the snow. He knew it was cold, but couldn’t feel it; all of his senses were numb as he put all his concentration into defending his mind. His breathing was harsh and unsteady, staring up at the grey sky but not seeing anything, everything turned inward.

«Get out of my head!» he screamed, pushing outward with all his considerable strength. There was a deep ragged pain inside him; it wasn’t new, but it was raw again, as it hadn’t been in months, nearly a year.

«Afraid of what I’ll find?» Snoke pressed further, deeper. The Knights were surrounding Ben, each one of them with their hand out, pushing the man into the snow. The only one not holding Ben down was Sa’marha, who was leaning against a tree, still holding onto her electrostaff for support.

Ben fought back as violently as he’d ever fought, against odds he’d never faced before. This had all been some long, drawn-out fantasy, with blurred lines between black and white while he played out his struggle in Hux’s haunted house, on nameless jungle planets, against sentients he felt nothing for. Now he felt himself being torn apart, crushed down into the hollow crust of Star Killer. His ribs felt as though they would splinter at any moment and he cast out with the Force, roughly shoving at Betuo and managing to break their solid wall for a moment. In that space, Ben pushed himself up, dragging a harsh, thready breath into his lungs.

«It’s mine! Whatever’s there is mine!» Even though he was screaming at Snoke silently, his throat burned. «You have no right to my pain!»

Snoke’s darkness was not limited by the same conditions that limited Ben. Whatever light there was inside the young Knight had never held sway over the massive sentient who reached out in his own rooms, eyes closed to any image he saw in his own world. Snoke was unlimited, the darkness itselfe, and he tore at the very soul of the man lying in the snow. This wasn’t merely torture, it was an excavation.

«I have allowed too much,» Snoke said, his voice echoing, all-encompassing, the singular focus in a maelstrom of terror and blackness. «I have been lenient.»

He tore at Ben, brushing aside the efforts of the young man as if they were flies. He was no longer punishing Ben, he was removing him entirely, pulling at the brightness inside him. It would be breathless, a vacuum, where once there was only pain and hurt there would be nothing, the absolute nothing that Kylo Ren would fill with his hatred and anger.

Ben would have screamed, but there was no air. He had no voice. His eyes were wide and terrified and fixed on the empty sky above him, but all he could see was that depthless dark, feeling the pull to the heart of it even as he scrambled to hold himself back, to hold himself together even as he felt his mind pulled apart. His tensed fingers clawed at the snow beneath him, trying to find physical purchase though it couldn’t help him at all.

His back arched off the ground, boot heels pressed hard against the earth and trampled snow. He couldn’t give in like this, but the pain was beyond intense, beyond pain. He was being destroyed and the little light that he’d been drawing from was overrun. His mind cast about frantically for someone he could call to for help, but there was no one. He was too far from those he’d known in the past, his own Knights had betrayed him, and his master was tearing into him with psychic talons that were dragged down behind his eyes, on the inside of his ribs, through his very memories. Who else was there? Arrik?

He’d rather die than call to him now.

There was no begging, there was no aid. There was only pain and darkness and for a moment, an intense, clear moment, he felt the coupler edge digging into his spine where he was lying on his bag. The piece for the _Falcon_ , holding him there, holding him intact, for one more minute.

But Snoke pressed further, didn’t stop, furious. He was drawing everything out of Ben, taking him apart thread by thread and only leaving behind shreds of what he wanted. It could have been minutes, it could have been hours, it might have been an entire day, but when Snoke finally released Ben, it was dark on Star Killer base, and there were only two Knights on either side of him.

There was a difference between the night and the darkness he was rising from slowly. Ben’s first awareness was cold, the intense stiff cold of hours held captive in his own mind in the unforgiving weather of Star Killer’s surface. He knew he wasn’t alone, though his connection to the Force felt sharp and painful, like reaching his hand down into a container of broken glass shards and feeling them tear at his wrist. He tried to say something, but before he even knew what word he was trying to say, he heard himself, the hoarse sob that his voice had become.

“He’s awake.” Ephreen’s voice was still light, still feminine through her vocoder. Marden took a step forward, frowning behind his mask.

“Get him up.”

The Knights stepped forward, reaching down and lifting Ben up by his arms. Marden took most of his weight, and Ephreen gathered their weapons, holding onto Ben’s lightsaber as they walked back towards the main Star Killer base.

For Ben, it was waves of dark grey and black as he fought to remain conscious. He didn’t really feel the cold anymore, or the desperation he’d been overcome with earlier. He was numb and raw at the same time. He knew it was Marden and the new presence he hadn’t recognized. They moved him without deference to his position; he didn’t care. His long hair was a snarled mess, freed from its usual braid. His clothes were stiff where his sweat had frozen, hands blue with cold.

The two Knights dragged Ren through the compound, passing the medical bay and going directly to the berth of the General. He wasn’t in his rooms, but they put Kylo on the couch and left him there to recover, walking out to stand guard on either side of the General’s door. What was left of Ben Solo gave up again, letting the dark that wasn’t night and wasn’t what Snoke had done to him rise up and take him again.

Hux had no warning, he hadn’t even heard what had happened between the Knights and Kylo Ren.

He had called them. The very same day that his party had landed on Star Killer. He had told Snoke that they needed to prepare to lose Kylo Ren. He had seen it, knew it, had taken precautions that he had hoped he wouldn’t have to activate.

Kylo...Ben had been distracted. Distracted by Star Killer, distracted by his own conscious, even by General Arrik Hux himself. The feelings of importance, the air that Hux had projected, it wasn’t entirely false, but it was put upon, exaggerated so that if Ben had brushed against his mind he wouldn’t suspect anything. Of course Ben would see only a mindless devotion when there was ice underneath, the chill of years of preparation and understanding. Arrik Hux did not play at war. He was war.

Hux was always ahead of Ben, and he wanted to stay there.

He was surprised, however, when he went to his rooms and saw two Knights standing there, dark and silent. They didn’t move as he approached and he slowed, frowning before them.

“Can I help you two?”

Marden Ren’s expression could have been anything, could have been angry, could have been dismissive, could have been as blank as his helmet.

“No, general, we’re just minding our charge.”

“Your charge?” Hux was genuinely confused and suddenly very angry. “Are you telling me Kylo Ren is in my rooms?”

Marden Ren nodded once, the quiet sound through the vocoder reading as annoyance with the general’s slow grasp of this obvious fact.

“The Supreme Leader has effected a...realignment for our leader. We don’t believe there will be any relapses, but here we stand in case that happens. Otherwise, you have complete control over his…” The Knight paused, choosing his words with obvious care. “Recovery.”

Hux set his jaw, annoyed and furious. This was another ploy from Snoke to drive the two of them even further apart, as if the rift that had opened between them wasn’t enough.

“Is that so?” Hux murmured, heading to his door, cylinder in hand. “Did he give any other direction?”

“No, general. We’re only here to ensure there are no other disturbances. The Supreme Leader doesn’t foresee any. If that is the case, Kylo Ren will resume his former place.” Marden Ren’s eyes behind his mask turned to watch Hux, but the helmet remained facing forward.

Hux sighed, rolling his eyes. “This is an odious assignment,” he murmured, opening his door and stepping in. “Enjoy the view, Knights.” Hux shut the door, going immediately over to the prone figure of Kylo Ren on the couch.

He lay as the Knights had left him, head lolled to the side against one of the dark cushions and one arm dangling off the edge of the sofa. There was no blood on him, no wound. While his clothes were dripping melted snow onto Hux’s floor, they were undamaged. But his face looked somehow gaunt, pained even while unconscious. The skin under his eyes looked bruised, and his eyes themselves seemed sunken as if he’d gone through a long illness. His hair was loosely held back in a braid, the rest spread out, long, past his shoulders, and it was already starting to dry in wavy curls.

Hux went over to the prone knight, looking down at him critically, eyes narrowed. He pressed his mouth and glanced around before going over to his desk and then his small armory, pulling out a sharp knife before going back over to Ben. It was petty, and spiteful, but he was frustrated and angry and that hair was kriffing annoying.

He leaned down and took Ren’s hair in one hand, holding it out from his head, not at all concerned with the fact that he might be hurting him. With barely any ceremony, he drew the knife upwards, shearing most of Kylo Ren’s long hair. Hux swallowed, surprised at his own impulsiveness, and then leaned down again, taking off another shank, and then another, until the longest of Ren’s locks ended just under his ears.

Stars, it was low. He felt dissatisfied and angry at himself, clumps of hair on the arm of his couch, a few more strands on the floor. He tightened his hand on the braid he had shorn off, and turned swiftly on his heel. This was just another play by Snoke. It would have been easier if Ren had been left alone to recover, if he had been able to see Hux when he was ready, when he asked for it. By forcing Kylo to stay under Hux’s stewardship, Snoke was putting them at odds, again. Hux couldn’t even protest; after all he had been the one to tell the Supreme Leader that Ben was slipping beyond his control, beyond him.

The general shook his head, tossing the hair into the rubbish disposal, leaving Ren and storming into his personal rooms, annoyed that Kylo was going to be a fixture in his private quarters. He had no empathy for the man or what he had just been through, he didn’t want to know. It had been his own foolish decisions that had led them here, and Hux was even inclined to think that Kylo deserved it.

He stayed in his own bedroom, bathed under the shower, glad that there wasn’t just a refresher and he had the luxury of actual water. After he changed into loungewear he avoided going into his main rooms and stayed in his own bedroom instead. He didn’t want to care for Ren, he wasn’t a babysitter or a nurse, he was a general, damn it all, this was an insult to his person and to his rank.

He fumed for a few more hours, unable to concentrate on anything that popped up on his pad. In another fit he threw the pad across his bedroom, glaring at the tech as it scattered. He kicked at a circuit that had the audacity to land near his foot before he turned and went to bed. It was a long time before he could finally relax enough to sleep, and even then, he turned throughout his rest.

It was a long journey back to consciousness again, though when his eyes opened this time, Kylo Ren was able to keep them open. There was pain, his world was mostly pain. But through that, there was something else. Knowledge. Resignation. There was nothing stronger than the power that he’d felt ripping through his body. It was a controlled chaos as he’d never managed to focus the wildness inside himself. Now it had been ordered, caged.

It made the choice for him.

Ben Solo whimpered in pain somewhere deep below the surface, but Kylo Ren grit his teeth as he forced himself to sit up. He didn’t recognize the room; it was functional, featureless, without personality or decoration. He only knew it wasn’t his until his breath caught in the furnace of his lungs. Arrik Hux was nearby and lightly sleeping. He narrowed his eyes against the light in the room. Armitage Hux. His father’s son and fruition of expectation.

Kylo slid off the sofa and onto his knees, spilling the blankets down onto the floor and leaving them. Taking a deep breath, he settled into his meditation pose even as the room swam around him and he could hear his heart beating in his ears. He set his hands on his thighs and concentrated. Not on a spot on the far wall or the sensation of letting everything go. He focused on the rage burning in the center of his chest, feeling it burn hotter and darker and letting himself fall into it, burned away to bones and then to nothing and then he was whole again. The stars were vast around him, the sky endlessly full of them as it scrolled away from him, the stars in the distance becoming tiny winking lights. One by one, he put them all out, stretching out his hand and touching them each with a finger and feeling the satisfaction when they guttered out and were dark. Hours passed and he remained deep inside himself, healing what he could and learning to live with what remained open and bleeding.

Arrik left his bedroom, and stopped immediately as he was faced with Kylo Ren on the floor, in some kind of meditative stance. He pulled his gloves on over his wrists and walked through the main room, going over to his desk to find a replacement pad.

The room was silent for a minute, then Kylo spoke up, voice low and hoarse.

“You’ve been awake for an hour.” It wasn’t accusatory, just a statement, but there was a hidden layer of disgust in his tone.

Hux frowned, looking over at Kylo for a few seconds. He shook his head and opened up his pad, looking through the messages he had missed.

“What of it?”

Kylo Ren didn’t rise from where he knelt in front of the sofa, sitting back on his heels and holding himself inhumanly still. He watched Hux with fathomless eyes, so dark there was no differentiation between the pupil and the deep iris.

“Aren’t you expected somewhere? A meeting perhaps?”

“Something like that,” Hux said, standing straight, not flinching away from Kylo’s dark gaze. He swallowed, and the anger flared up again as he watched Kylo Ren sit there, impassive. “Will your former lackeys let you go to your own rooms or will you be here when I return?”

Kylo Ren frowned, showing the first bit of emotion since he’d woken up. “What do you mean?” Former lackeys? He had no idea what Hux was talking about. Why was he speaking like he was under house arrest?

Hux gestured to his door, frowning. “Ask to leave then.”

Still looking slightly confused, Kylo Ren pushed himself to his feet. His muscles protested immediately, they were stiff and his nerves sent shooting pains through his limbs every time he demanded they move. But his face was no more angry than it had looked when speaking to the general, and as he walked to the door, his steps were steady, if a little heavy.

He hit the panel to make the doors slide open, then looked between the two Knights who had turned to look at him. He didn’t recognize the helmet of the one on the left; she (he could feel her, though it sent shocks of pain through his head and down his spine) seemed slightly more uncertain. But he knew Marden Ren and looked to him directly.

“Why are you standing here, Marden Ren?” His voice was flat, gravelly in his throat.

Marden looked over at Kylo, barely over his shoulder. “We have our orders from the Supreme Leader.”

“What orders are those?” Kylo asked, angry again before anything had even been said.

“You are not to leave the General’s rooms until you are recovered.” Marden said, his own voice steely. “Ephreen and I are to make sure that you remain in place.”

Ephreen. Her name was Ephreen. He filed that away for later use.

“I’m recovered. Let me pass.” Kylo Ren’s tone brooked no argument; his will was absolute and he was used to being obeyed by his Knights, at least.

“I can still sense the weaknesses in you.” Marden said staunchly, turning to face Kylo Ren. “You are not yet healed from the encounter with the Supreme Leader.”

General Hux stepped forward, putting a hand on Kylo Ren’s back. At least in the face of the rest of the knights, Arrik would support him. Not that it meant much, not that he’d want it.

“He will be taken care of.” Arrik wrapped his hand around Kylo’s elbow, pulling him back and closing the door. He took a step to stand in front of the other man and gestured to the spot on the floor where he had been a moment ago. “I’ll send food up.”

Kylo Ren stared at the door before looking back to Arrik. Food sounded nauseating even as his stomach rumbled insistently. He gestured dismissively and stepped away from him.

“Do whatever you’d like, general.” This man had delivered him to this pain, this rending, this treatment. What was he playing at now?

Arrik stood still for a few seconds, watching Ren turn away from him. He was furious, but pressed it down, knowing that while this was mostly Ren’s fault, their current close quarters were not a contrivance of the Knight. He turned and left without another word, the doors opening and shutting quickly behind him, leaving Ren alone in the General’s own quarters.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no t/w for this chapter.
> 
> quick question, if i start posting these 'sections' (Corruption, Distance, Arkanis, etc) in their entirety as single chapters in a separate fic, would people want that to download as a .mobi or a epub? would that be helpful? wraith and i set it up this way so we could more easily write the fic, but it might be better for people if there was one massive 400 k fic they could download instead of all these smaller sections. thoughts?
> 
> you guys are great! remember to visit our tumblr @ tigernoir.tumblr.com to say hi or tell us you want a 400k kylux fic on your kindle. thanks again for all the kudos and comments!

Kylo Ren looked around and began to learn his edges, his walls, his restrictions. Internally, he raised other walls, defending himself from any intrusions his Knights—were they still his? He was unsure of his position now, where his anger and resignation left him. He knew he needed to rebuild himself, shape himself as the pain made his soul malleable. He felt like a fool, trusting to the sparks of light he’d felt within himself; now they were like dying embers and he was furious that he couldn’t stamp them out for good. Why had they remained? Why did they remain now, to taunt him?

The rest of the day was spent in that pursuit. In the shower, he received a shock he should have realized earlier-- running his hands through his hair, he realized most of it was gone. He’d let it get ridiculously long while he’d been pursuing his new life. It had first been laziness, then forgetfulness, then finally a strange clinginess that had made him let it go, knowing how to braid it back from the countless times he’d braided and unbraided his mother’s. It had been a foolish affectation but his stomach churned when he looked to the mirror, at the shorter curls and waves by his ears. Had it been one of the Knights? Had they taken his kriffing hair as a trophy?

Fury fueled his shower, then his dressing, then the training he put himself through in Hux’s main room. The movements hurt him, muscles screaming as though they were shredding fibers when he reached out his arm or extended his leg in a kick. Once he’d trained his body, he pushed himself to use the Force, to draw up that energy when he himself had none. It fed on the pain and exhaustion and betrayal that were seething in him, and when he inhaled, he pulled the darkness up through the soles of his bare feet, down from the planet itself, the dark hollow heart of dead Star Killer.

Two hours later, the room was destroyed and Kylo Ren knelt in the middle of the chaos, face placid and hands on his thighs, just as Hux had found him at the beginning of the rotation.

The General went through his day as normal, reviewing science briefs and looking over the code himself. He took a short tour around the reactor and reviewed the specs for the second test run of the entire weapon. They were only a few short months out from the destruction of the senate and the reforming of the new Galactic Order in the universe, and Arrik Hux was at the center of the entire operation.

He had hoped that at the end of it Kylo Ren would be with him, helping him and the First Order create something new, bigger, greater. Now there was a small question associated with the Knight and former smuggler, but in the grand scheme of things, Arrik Hux had greater things to worry about than the loyalties of one man.

Wasn’t that why he had called on the Supreme Leader to take care of the problem before it became an issue? Before it became something that they couldn’t control? And now that problem was in his kriffing rooms under some kind of mandated house arrest. Infuriating.

The two knights on either side of his doors didn’t say anything when he scanned his cylinder, but nothing could really prepare him for the disaster zone that was his main living area. His books were scattered, there were circuits and wires from all kinds of tech broken over the floors. The table was snapped in two and the couch was demolished.

Hux’s face was stony as he entered, and he glared at the man sitting in the middle of the debris, steady as a tree, unmoving.

“You’ve redecorated.”

Kylo Ren didn’t so much as open his eyes. His fingers lay still on his thighs, perfect posture unmoved by the general’s entrance or comment.

“If this is the training ground they give me, this is the one I’ll use,” he said calmly.

“You couldn’t train in a more considerate manner?” Hux asked, pulling off his gloves as he walked around to some circuit boards that were obviously modified from some standard First Order pad. He set his jaw, looking over at Kylo again. “This is a little ridiculous, don’t you think?”

Kylo Ren finally looked up at the other man, feeling his annoying as much as reading it in his expression.

“Who cut my hair?” he asked, ignoring Hux’s question. He imagined it had to be rhetorical anyway. The room was already demolished.

Hux made a disgusted noise, dropping the shattered piece of tech and pulling off his large greatcoat.

“I did,” he said, his voice cold. He didn’t sound it, but he was embarrassed and furious with his own lack of control. He shouldn’t have even touched Kylo.

The Knight’s face darkened and his attention had a laser focus on the general. He waited half a second to see if it was something born of the man’s strange sense of humor, but he could feel the truth of the statement.

“You did.” Kylo Ren rose to his feet smoothly, giving no evidence of the muscles spasming in his legs and back. “Why?”

“Call it a momentary lapse,” Hux said dismissively, not turning away from Ren. “I wasn’t thinking.”

“So your unthinking hand grabbed for...what? A kitchen knife? A pair of shears? And then you walked over to be and just...cut?” It was a harsh question, voice still gravelly and pained.

Hux glared at Ren. He had already admitted that it was a mistake to do it, did Ren expect him to grovel over cut hair? He set his jaw, frustrated that he was too tired to pursue this, too angry to really think properly when it came to Kylo Ren.

“What do you want from me, Ren?” He asked sharply, obviously annoyed.

“I’m just...curious about your momentary lapses and lack of control.” Kylo Ren raised his eyebrows and kept himself unnaturally still. “It’s so unlike you.”

“It won’t happen again,” Hux said firmly, looking around the room. “Although I haven’t heard you make any such promises regarding the state of my berth.”

“How could it happen again?” Kylo Ren muttered as he watched Hux. “I’d end up bald.”

“Ren, I didn’t ask for you to take up residence in my rooms,” Hux said, tiredly. “I apologized for my actions, and that should be the end of this discussion.”

In all honesty, Hux was exhausted. Right now he would have liked nothing more than a stiff drink and a long shower. Having Kylo Ren, angry, furious, in his rooms, in his space, was not at all what he had wanted or asked for. He wanted peace, and there was war brewing between them.

Kylo watched him and felt that it was more than the haircut or the shards of expensive tech around them. He imagined his hair in the incinerator; there was nothing left of him now that hadn’t been him as part of the First Order. He sighed and closed his eyes.

“What did you do, after I walked out of the hangar? What did you see? What do you know?” He spoke quietly even knowing the general probably had recording devices everywhere. He could have no more secrets aloud.

Hux frowned, his mouth thinning. He took a deep breath. “I didn’t follow. They dragged you back.” Hux shrugged, walking over to pick up another piece of tech, and then part of a screen. “I know Sa’marha Ren was waiting, I assume the rest were close behind her.”

He took a deep breath and put the broken pieces on his workbench, glancing around for more parts.

“I don’t know the specifics of what happened on the surface.”

“Have you seen her?” Kylo Ren asked, and he was surprised when his own voice remained cool and steady. He’d seriously injured her, he remembered; he’d have executed her with just another thirty seconds stretched between the two of them like spider silk.

“No.” Hux said quickly, going through and finding another few pieces. “Those two brought you here and the rest left almost immediately.”

There was no way to ask for more information about her, then; he’d have to wait.

“So you were given babysitting duty.” Kylo Ren paused, then pushed on. “What are your actual orders?”

Hux sighed, turning away from his desk, deeming most of the pieces almost unusable. He shook his head again. “I don’t have any. Apparently you’re to stay here until you’re recovered. I haven’t received any word from the Supreme Leader.”

Turning away from Hux’s pale eyes, Kylo Ren bent to gather up some broken pieces as well. Most of them were destroyed, and most of the pieces were from actual First Order tech; there was very little that was decorative in the general’s rooms here on base.

“Have you received a definition of ‘recovery?’ What does that mean here?” He looked down at the shattered pieces in his hands.

Hux’s hand was on the desk, and he watched Ren carefully, unsure of what the man was thinking, unable to feel him at all, their connection completely cut off. Their closeness had been severed by something that Hux couldn’t control, that was entirely Ren, even as it was both of them.

“I’m not sure,” Hux admitted. “I would assume that the Knights have some standards required of their own that has not been shared with me.”

“How will they even know when I’m locked in here?” The Knight’s forearms tensed as though he’d throw down the pieces he’d just collected, then he took a deep breath and forced himself to control the emotions that were rising, confused, from his core.

“You are asking questions that I don’t have answers to.” Hux’s voice was quiet, his eyes flicking over Ren’s shoulders, his face, the square of his shoulders. Even if they didn’t have their connection still, even if that bond was severed entirely, completely, Arrik Hux could still read Kylo Ren.

“If you have nothing else,” Hux said, abandoning the tech, already planning on replacing most of it anyway. “I’ll have the janitorial staff clean the rest up. You have reduced the room to junk.” He sounded less angry, more resigned.

Kylo Ren pressed his mouth, knowing that he needed this man. To work with him, to be on his side at least with empty words. If nothing else, it looked like the general’s opinion of him might carry some weight in how quickly he was released.

He didn’t address the comment about the room. He never knew what to say in the aftermath of his temper.

“Have you eaten?” he asked, walking over to the bench and setting the broken pieces down one by one.

“No,” and he didn’t intend to at this point, although he felt no need to explain that. “If you’re hungry you can use the wall. If that’s malfunctioning I’ll get a pad for you.”

“What’re you eating?” he asked. Short sentences seemed easier right now; there was less room for misunderstand or for his words to grow sharp and jagged either in his mouth or in Hux’s ears.

“I’m not,” Hux said, walking over to his own berth, wondering if it would be in the same sort of state. He found himself realizing that as long as the refresher and his mattress were intact he would be able to deal with the product of Kylo’s tantrum. “It’s been a trying day, Ren. I want a shower and sleep.”

He looked over at Ren after the doors to his rooms opened, and he saw that his own private rooms were mostly whole, even if some of the books were scattered and the pillows and sheets were on the floor. “If there’s nothing else?”

Hux was being open, despite what had been done, despite the fact that he knew Ren was angry, furious, betrayed. Even though he knew this, knew that Ren wasn’t entirely himself, he had put himself at Ren’s mercy. Arrik was unarmed, had no way of protecting himself, and even if Ren had only his fists, Hux was sure that he would be overpowered quickly. Right now, Arrik was trusting Ren, even if it was just trusting Ren to let him wake up in the morning.

“Where’s my lightsaber?” Kylo Ren asked finally into the silence that had built up between them. “Do you know?” He was certain he wouldn’t be allowed to have it, not here, not now, not when he wasn’t ‘recovered,’ whatever that meant to any of them. But he didn’t like the idea of someone else holding it, meddling with it, with those ancient components and the newer wiring that still wasn’t quite right though he wasn’t sure why. He wanted to know where it was, and he wanted to know that it was untouched.

“I don’t,” Hux said softly, watching him carefully. “Should I ask your guards?”

Another pause. Anger warring with honesty. Kylo Ren closed his eyes as though he was falling asleep where he stood, then he opened them again and there were burning embers in their depths.

“If I have to talk to them again before morning, someone’s going to die,” he said without any pretension or blustering. It was simply truth. Violent, necessary truth.

Hux smirked slightly, eyebrows up. “I’m tempted to hold you to that,” he said, turning away from Ren. “I’ll ask in the morning. You can keep your distance.”

Kylo Ren watched the back of his head, where the lights caught the variations of gold and copper in his hair. Distant, but not too distant.

“Have a drink with me,” he said quietly. “Send the message tonight about my saber. And my helmet.”

Hux frowned, looking back at Ren. He didn’t say anything for a few seconds, and then nodded. He looked around the room and then went past the main living area and into the kit, standing for a second amid the glass that had been thrown off the shelves. Crouching in a cabinet, he found a small bottle of common scotch that he was sure he didn’t choose himself. There were a couple mismatched mugs lying, unbroken on the floor, and Hux decided to do away with ceremony, pouring the liquor into the ceramic before going over to Ren.

“To your health.”

Kylo took the mug and looked down into it. The liquid was sloshing in the bottom of the cup and it took him a second to realize that his hands were shaking, not the planet. He looked up to meet Hux’s eyes, reading the exhaustion in them and feeling it, knowing it intimately. He was tired himself, so tired.

“To yours, general.” He lifted the mug. “May the sun shine tomorrow.”

“I seem to have an affinity for settling on gloomy planets,” Hux muttered, raising his mug and then taking a sip of the scotch. He pulled away, hissing slightly, turning his head. “That is...harsh.”

Kylo Ren watched him for a moment before sampling his own drink. He felt the muscles in his jaw tighten involuntarily and he shook his head as he swallowed.

“That’s not that bad. I’ve had things...mm. Thirty times worse. At least.” It was a little attempt, a little apology.

Hux almost sighed, resigning himself to just slightly above tolerable company and below tolerable scotch. He would feel better once his rooms were put back to rights.

“At least,” Hux muttered.

Reaching over to tap the side of his mug against Hux’s, Kylo made a wry face before downing the rest of his scotch. It burned and was far below the quality he’d come to expect from the general’s stores, but then again, Star Killer Base was ball of rock and steel and fire with one purpose, and that purpose was definitely not life. Even more obviously, it wasn’t about enjoying life.

“My helmet?” he reminded him quietly.

“And your saber, I know,” Hux said, taking another sip before putting it on the desk, which he now realized had a few compromising cracks in it. He rolled his eyes and glanced back at Ren. “If you’d like to retreat from view, now is the time.”

He went to the door and opened it, stepping out quickly and turning to face Marden Ren, his back to Ephreen dismissively.

“Kylo Ren requires his helmet, and needs to know the location of his lightsaber.” Hux’s voice was hard, commanding again, steely and above reproach. “It should not be touched, and he asks that it remain in his own berth until he can collect it.”

The Knight’s shoulders were square against the general’s commands, impassive face mask staring back at Hux blankly. In fact, he was looking past the other man to Ephreen and he spoke to her.

“Was Kylo Ren’s helmet recovered?” he asked, voice modulated through the vocoder and giving no impression of his emotions.

“His effects were brought back,” Ephreen’s voice was light, almost lilting, even through her helmet. “Both are being kept in a secure location until the Supreme Order wishes it.”

“The helmet is necessary,” Hux said, turning to the other Knight. “Bring that to my rooms directly.”

“Necessary,” Marden Ren repeated, not making it a question but a sort of mocking statement. “How can it be necessary when he doesn’t leave your rooms, general?”

“Because I said so, Knight,” Hux said, voice made of steel, eyes hard. “I am not contradicting the orders of the Supreme Leader, and I am the paramount of this base. Tell me where the helmet is.”

“Kylo Ren’s helmet and his bag are in my room, general,” Marden Ren said in a hard, but strangely mild voice. There was constant violence just under his tone. He’d known all along; he hadn’t needed to ask Ephreen. It was just another way to disrespect General Hux.

“I expect it immediately,” Hux said, keeping his own tone low. “Or I will have it retrieved.” He didn’t bother waiting for Marden’s response, opening the door to his berth and walking back in. The soundsafe door slid shut and Hux glared at Ren, turning and quickly going to his own room, pulling out his pad and sending a tech to get the items, giving them universal access, not waiting for Marden Ren to get it himself.

“You Knights are an infuriating species,” he called out. “Is dismissiveness and terminal contempt part of your training curriculum?”

Kylo Ren walked after him, steps heavy and slow. There wasn’t a lot of ground to cover and he was already feeling trapped.

“You say that as though I spent longer than six months training. It’s not like they gave me a book when I got there and said, hey, study this so you know what we’re about. Mostly it was a lot of being damp and clawing my way to the top.” He pressed his mouth, leaning in the open doorway to Hux’s bedroom. He hadn’t really spoken much about his time with the Knights, his isolation in the jungle as he grew stronger, growing into himself on another nameless planet.

Hux made a noise in the back of his throat, looking over his shoulder at Kylo. “Long enough to become Lord Ren and assume some kind of responsibility.” He dropped his pad and shook his head.

“You’ll have your helmet shortly. Your bag should be coming with it, although I’m unsure of where your weapon ended up.” He had the wherewithal to look slightly sorry for the fact that he couldn’t deliver better news. “It’s mostly likely with Marden Ren.”

As he spoke he was undoing his jacket, turning to sit on the edge of the bed, too tired to bother asking Ren to leave.

Kylo Ren looked down, mouth open slightly as he ran the top of his tongue over the ridges of his teeth. His eyebrows moved up slightly on his forehead, but he didn’t react aloud for a minute.

“If he’s damaged it, or tampered with it, I’ll cut both his hands off,” he said mildly, raising his eyes slowly. They looked almost wistful, almost emotional. “I appreciate your...attempts, general.”

Hux frowned slightly, and then took a deep breath, making a dismissive gesture. “Of course. If you decide you’d like to permanently disfigure a lesser member of your cadre you just say the word and I’ll hold him down.”

Kylo Ren pushed his fingers through his hair, surprised again when it ended abruptly and fell back into his face again. The ends felt strange against his neck, bluntly chopped and strangely sharp against his skin.

“You hate them, don’t you?” Even though it was asked, it was a statement. He’d known that before now. He’d seen and felt the tension in the foyer of the house on Arkanis.

“I don’t appreciate disrespect,” Hux said simply, shrugging, his jacket folded next to him. “The knights seem to have a talent for it.”

“That’s an inherent problem when you create a group both inside and outside your organization with members who only owe allegiance to one person.” He’d thought that person was him, that he was the one they listened to even though Snoke was their leader. He was the one who’d trained them, fought with them, made them into the true power they were now. The betrayal, he realized, should not have been so unexpected, but it still bit deeply.

“My opinion wasn’t asked.” Hux said, almost disdainfully, taking off his suspenders and then stepping out of his pants, folding them up next to his jacket. “I’d like to turn in, if you don’t mind.”

Kylo Ren watched him for another quiet minute, looking him over, the lines of his body that he knew fighting, fucking, sleeping. The scars he’d counted on his arms and knew the way he knew star charts, the long smooth line of the back of his leg, thigh to ankle. He took a deep breath and nodded; it was almost a bow.

“Good night, general. I’m sure I’ll see you in the morning.” Formal, without offense.

Hux nodded, tucking his uniform into a drawer and picking up his pad. He didn’t miss the way Ren’s eyes moved, but he didn’t know quite what to do with that information. He took a deep breath, decided to ignore Ren’s wandering gaze.

“Good night, Ren.” Hux said, sitting back on the bed. He was relieved when the door closed and the lights dimmed. Hux was too exhausted to go into the refresher and he quickly fell asleep, despite the massive problem of Kylo Ren. There would be more crises tomorrow.

There were none the next day, or the following day, apart from the wreckage of the general’s suite of rooms being quickly set to rights with new utilitarian furniture and reinstalled tech along the walls and comm panels. Kylo Ren fended off boredom with training, warded off furor by trying to exhaust his body to the point of sitting on the plain sofa at the end of a rotation with no thought other than sleep. He shared his evening meal with Hux, and they ate in relative silence, and while it wasn’t as comfortable as their shared time together had been in the past, it was no longer hostile.

He had the return of his helmet and his bag, not that there was much in it that mattered. A heavy scarf, a few pieces of tech that were useful while traveling or in the field when the Force couldn’t reach far enough for specific information, some travel rations in a still-sealed box, then Arrik’s tags with the broken chain still wound around the rusted piece of junk.

His lightsaber remained in the Knights’ possession, so he asked for a training stick from the gym to help him in his exercises. He never struck anything in the room by accident, and the room remained intact. His dreams had grown stranger, dreams where he was being hunted through the forest with the snow nearly blinding him and then hearing the charge of a blaster and feeling the hot sharp sting against his side before turning to meet his assailant and staring through the sheets of swirling white at nothing, feeling there was someone, until finally he saw the slim line of blue and felt the hum of it raising the hair on the back of his neck. When he awoke he always heard Hux in the refresher and he lay on the couch pretending he was still asleep when the general left promptly on time to start his day.

His waking hours stretched on and he watched the surface of Star Killer from the windows, watching the dunes of shifting snow change under the winds, revealing and obscuring rocks and tree stumps. Sometimes he wondered about Sa’marha and considered reaching out to her, but he couldn’t stand the thought of allowing even that chink in the walls he’d fortified his mind with. Every small weakness was a fatal one.

Arrik Hux was right; he felt less like ripping Ren’s head off after his rooms had been put back to order. He continued overseeing the science and engineering teams, taking tours of Star Killer, reviewing code and making sure that the officers and troopers were up to his standard. He sent away an entire platoon of officers for misusing the communications board, and he noticed a significant benefit from it. It got much quieter when he walked into rooms.

On the third day of his forced imprisonment with Kylo Ren, he finally received a message that would relieve him of his charge. Colonel Joran Barril asked for his help. The officer commanded the Vindication that was stationed nearby, and there was some continuing conflicts that were drawing into the third month. This was exactly the distraction he hadn’t realized he needed.

He went back to his berth with new purpose, ignoring Marden and Ephreen as he closed the door behind himself.

Kylo Ren was sitting on the sofa, sitting forward and looking through files on the datapad in his hand. His helmet was set on the table beside the couch; every day he put it on for a while, then took it off, feeling like an idiot for wearing it when he was the only person confined in the suite. He looked up when the general walked in, raising his eyebrows slightly.

“You’re walking with purpose, General Hux.”

“I have had enough of this planet for the moment,” Hux said, walking past Ren and into his own berth, finding a large bag and putting spare uniforms and tech into it. “I’ve been asked to aid Colonel Barril in the Olbardred System.”

“Leaving. You’re leaving.” Kylo frowned as he turned to watch Hux through his open bedroom door. “On the _Finalizer_?” He tossed the datapad onto the couch cushion beside him.

“No, I’ll be taking the _Javelin_. It’s a short trip across the Veltiu,” Hux explained, slinging the bag over his shoulder, his pad still in his other hand. He walked out into the main room and frowned, looking over at Ren. “Are you prepared to leave?”

Kylo Ren was on his feet before he realized it. He stared at the general, confusion overriding his initial jolt of excitement.

“I haven’t received orders to accompany you,” he said finally, keeping his voice calm with an effort. “Unless you’ve received them for me?”

“I’m giving the order,” Hux said quickly, already flipping through his pad, giving new commands. “Your lightsaber will be returned, you’ll have what you need.”

“Why are you doing this?” Kylo asked. He didn’t have anything to pack; his bag was sitting by the end of the sofa, where it had been since it was returned to him. He still owned nothing, and took that nothing with him from place to place.

“Because I’m tired of being here,” Hux snapped, turning towards Ren again, already at the door. “Remember to act like you’re the leader.”

Kylo Ren grabbed his bag and put it over his shoulder, belatedly remembering his helmet. He paused to set it over his head, walking to join Hux as he hit the switch for the locking mechanism. When he spoke, his voice was altered, mechanical.

“Are the other Knights coming as well?” he asked, reaching to move his hair out of the way of the back of his collar before meeting with empty air and remembering, once again, there was no long hair there to move.

“Not if I have any say in it.” Hux muttered, passing his bag to Kylo Ren, eyebrows up.

Kylo Ren accepted the bag without thinking, then look down at it in confusion. Why the hells had Hux just handed him his bag as though he was his attendant? He was tempted to shove it back into the general’s hands or Force fling it against the wall. However, he wanted to get out of these rooms, off this planet, and since Hux seemed to be the one calling the shots at present, he figured that carrying his travel satchel for ten minutes wouldn’t kill him.

Setting his jaw, he put the strap over his shoulder as they walked to the door.

“I do need my lightsaber,” he reminded him. “If you want me to act as any kind of enforcer.” He wanted it back in his hand, the steady weight of it at his belt, the way it moved when he walked.

“I do.” Hux said, holding his hand to the pad. “Don’t worry about that.”

The door slid open and Hux walked through confidently. He ignored the two Knights on either side of his door, and nodded as one of the many trooper technicians came up from the halls with a package wrapped in cloth. He took it and glanced back at Ren as he continued through the hallway.

Marden Ren didn’t physically prevent Kylo from walking out into the hallway after Hux, but he definitely stepped forward to put himself in front of the general.

“Where is he going?” he demanded, glancing at the package Hux had been handed. He didn’t bother watching the tech walk away; the man was beneath his concern.

“He is coming with me,” Hux said, narrowing his eyes. “The Supreme Leader said that Ren was to remain under my supervision, and I am being called off-base. Unless you want to tell the Supreme Leader that Kylo Ren was left behind, I recommend you stand aside.”

Marden hesitated as he ran through the general’s words in his head. He wanted to call the Supreme Leader to ask him about it, but he knew by then the general would be long gone anyway. He had only tenuous control over Kylo Ren’s movements; he had none over Armitage Hux’s.

“How long will you be gone? Will you have adequate means to…” He hesitated. To what?

“A few weeks at the latest. Move aside.” Hux demanded, frowning. He put his hands behind his back, tilting his chin up. “You will be more than accommodated in my absence, you can direct any concerns to Mitaka or Derr’wan.”

Marden Ren hadn’t been prepared for a situation like this. He’d expected that he wouldn’t be challenged, and then when the appropriate amount of time had passed, he’d receive orders and go from there. He hadn’t expected push back from General Hux concerning Kylo Ren.

“I will report this to the Supreme Leader immediately,” he said. It was a promise, a threat, a child ready to tattle.

“I expect you will.” Hux said, putting a hand on Marden’s shoulder and pushing him to the side, walking past.

Kylo Ren’s smug expression was hidden behind his helmet, and he remembered why he’d been so eager to have it back. He’d always been notoriously bad at masking his features; really, the helmet was a blessing. He turned his head to look at Marden Ren for a moment, turning his head just a little further to look over the newest Knight.

“Train more extensively to perfect your hold techniques,” he told Ephreen steadily. “You draw unevenly from your emotions and let them move in waves. I will test you when I return. Hopefully you will not be found wanting.” He turned away from her, the end of the heavy wrap around his shoulders brushing against Marden Ren’s arm as he passed.

Ephreen was quiet, not moving, watching Marden’s shoulders.

Hux didn’t make a noise as he walked through the hallways, heading towards the hangar. Just a week ago he had been the one to stand in between Kylo Ren and the last chance at freedom the man might ever have.

He didn’t look back as he went out into the large hangar, this time it was bustling with men and women tending to ships, lights on, engines whirring in the background. Already, the _Javelin’s_ ramp was down, and the space was being cleared for the General’s departure. Nobody questioned the dark robed man striding next to him.

Kylo Ren said nothing either as they walked, and nothing as they boarded the shuttle. He shifted the weight of the general’s bag on his shoulder. When the main rush around them had abated, he turned to Hux.

“How long a trip is this?” He raised his eyebrows, unseen in the darkness of his helmet. “Would you like your bag back?”

Hux shrugged, looking towards the cockpit. There were only two crew members onboard, pilots who switched shifts. He turned and took the bag from Ren, walking back towards the officer’s berth.

“I said before, about a week,” Hux explained, opening the berth and tossing his bag onto the bed. He walked through the small shuttle, turning to head back towards the lounge. Ren followed him, not giving him a lot of space. As they moved through the shuttle, the pilots began takeoff procedures.

“You told Marden Ren several weeks,” he reminded him. “Which should I believe?”

“We will stay until my presence is no longer needed, whether that be one week or three. I doubt it’ll take that long.” Hux walked over to sit down on the couch, putting the package on his lap as he pulled off his greatcoat.

Kylo Ren stood close enough to look down at the other man. He pressed his mouth, weighing what he wanted to say.

“What will I be doing while your presence is needed? Will I be confined to your quarters again?”

“You’ll be by my side, I would hope.” He shrugged, looking up at Kylo Ren. “You’ll have your own berth, unless you’d prefer to share close quarters. I didn’t think you’d be so insistent on following directives.”

“I’m just wondering what the rules are, since you’re the one making them now.” He chewed his lip, hands in fists by his sides to keep him from reaching for the wrapped object in Hux’s lap. “What’s that?”

Hux made a noise in the back of his throat, lifting it up. He was offering it back to Ren, after everything, after what happened. There was no ulterior motive, Hux was simply giving it up.

“Something of yours,” he said quietly. The _Javelin_ began to ascend slowly, the impulse thrusters making it seem like they were riding a slow elevator.

Kylo Ren swallowed, again grateful for the barrier of the helmet between himself and Hux. It seemed impossible that Hux not want something back, especially after Kylo had brought this weapon up in anger between them. He considered what Hux had risked here, recreating his orders to include the imprisoned Knight and then offering him this. His lightsaber, something he could kill Arrik with before the other man had inhaled to speak.

He couldn’t kill him before. But what Snoke had stirred in him, had roused in him, had dragged up and anchored in him gave no such guarantee.

He reached to take the bundle and dropped the cloth away from it as he unwrapped his lightsaber. There was no visible damage to the hilt, but he knew he would take the whole thing apart and check it over, then slowly rebuild it while the pieces fit together before him, held up by the Force. He looked over at Hux.

“Thank you.”

Hux waved his hand, dismissing Ren’s gratitude. He didn’t try to ask for anything, didn’t want to push Kylo Ren too much further. Arrik was still the man who had stood between Kylo Ren and something he wanted.

“It’s yours. You should have it.”

“Yes.” Kylo Ren tightened his grip on the hilt, gloved finger brushing against the switch. He watched Hux’s pale face, the way his stiff dark collar came nearly up to his chin. “Where is my berth?” He wasn’t sure of his place on these ships that had been his home.

“There’s a lieutenant’s quarters next to my own, that will do.” Hux said, shifting slightly and pulling out a pad, already sorting through the messages. “It will take about a day to reach the Vindication, perhaps less. They’re stationed nearby, as part of Star Killer’s defensive system. If there’s anything you need...” Hux shrugged, looking up at Ren again. “I suggest you take it yourself.”

“I require nothing,” Kylo Ren said, inclining his head slightly. “My needs are very few, as you may have noted recently.”

Hux raised his eyebrows before rolling his eyes. This new version of Kylo Ren was strangely even more annoying than the one he got back from Snoke a few months ago. Formal to the point of being frustrating.

“Of course,” Hux muttered, sitting back on the couch, looking up at Ren. “Are you going to sit or do you have somewhere else to skulk around?”

“Well, I haven’t been told where the appropriate skulking areas of the ship are yet,” Kylo said, making an unseen face before stepping forward to sit down next to Hux.

“The usual,” Hux said, pulling up a keypad and typing a quick message. “Dark corners, the ends of hallways, perhaps the engine room.”

“The engine room? Well, that’s a step up for me, at least. I’m used to the corners and hallways, but the engine room?” Kylo took a deep breath, the humor tiring as it had never been in the past.

“Nobody would expect you there.” Hux smirked, glancing over at him.

“Well, that’s the best way to greet someone. Though I guess if you’re skulking, you’re probably not looking to make friends.” Kylo’s eyes slid over to look at Hux, though the helmet was still facing forward.

“I didn’t take you for someone who wanted to make friends anyway,” Hux said, looking back down to his pad, easily assigning tasks on Star Killer. He wanted to focus on the problems ahead rather than the storms on Star Killer.

This time, Kylo did turn his head to look at him, mouth twisted up behind the faceplate of his helmet. Ben Solo was everyone’s friend. Kylo Ren was no one’s. He took a deep breath and nodded, looking back to the lightsaber in his hand.

“Well, even for skulkers there are always a few like minded individuals you get on with,” he said after a beat.

Hux hummed, not saying anything as he continued to read. He didn’t mind Kylo’s company at this point, the man was strange, dark and silent, but Hux was willing to have him close. They left the atmosphere with barely a shudder and the _Javelin_ turned towards the hyperlanes and shot off. Hux glanced over at Kylo again and tried reaching out with his mind, just trying to feel out the old path that used to be there.

It was a blocked wall, a silence for Hux and then an almost painful jarring sensation when the defences bit back. Kylo Ren had been very careful the last few weeks to make himself a monolith of silence, something that would not be broken again. He turned his head sharply to look at Hux, but he’d already stabbed at the other man’s unprotected mind.

Hux frowned, turning his head to the side, his shoulders hunching. He hadn’t even sent a thoughts, hadn’t done anything. He wasn’t even sure that it would reach Kylo, considering what had happened. He swallowed, frowning deeply, still looking down.

After a minute he set his jaw, making a noise.

“That was unnecessary,” he said quietly, sitting up straighter again.

“I didn’t mean that to happen. To you,” Kylo said, voice just as quiet. “I’ve had to be more careful. I’d gotten used to just being open for you. It was a...weakness that was exploited.”

Hux swallowed, and another point like a sharp pain through his skull pulsed. He took a deep breath, frowning again, putting his hand at his temple. “I won’t try again.”

“You can...I need to remember what you feel like so that doesn’t happen.”

Hux frowned, looking over at him. “Now?”

“If you have the time,” Kylo said softly, shrugging one shoulder.

Taking a deep breath, Hux set aside his tablet and reached out again, very slowly pushing his consciousness towards Kylo.

It was more difficult than he’d expected, letting the walls down. Even here, where there was no reason to fear another Force user attacking while he was vulnerable. He remembered the feel of Hux’s sharp intelligence against his mind; the familiarity of it made it easier to allow that opening, to let him listen for Hux’s voice and energy rather than just repel it out of habit.

Hux swallowed, frowning deeply. He wasn’t scared of Kylo Ren, but he was aware of his vast power, and respected it. He reached out again, closing his eyes.

«Kylo.»

To hear that name in his head, in Hux’s slightly hesitant voice, was a strange, slightly unpleasant experience. He wanted to hear his name, his real name, but that was gone, wasn’t it?

«Hux.» He made sure to keep his voice mild, gently, feeling already the damage that he’d inflicted unintentionally when the general had tried to reach him before.

Hux swallowed, shifting again. He took a deep breath and shook his head. «Take off your kriffing helmet.»

There had been time before when Hux would have leaned over and let his finger find the lock switch without permission. Kylo Ren felt the distance now, but he didn’t argue as he pulled the helmet off, pulling his shorn hair into disarray as he did. He looked over at Hux with slightly questioning eyes. «Better?»

The General was frowning, letting himself look over Kylo’s face as if it were an entirely new thing. He nodded once, sitting back against the couch, pulling his pad onto his lap. «Better,» Hux agreed, turning the pad on again.

Kylo Ren let his eyelids drop for a second before looking over at Hux again. Slowly, he put his fingers lightly on the back of Hux’s hand, two layers of leather gloves between their actual touch.

«Then put the kriffing datapad down.»

Hux blinked, surprised. He glanced over at Kylo and then leaned forward to put the pad on the low table. He sat back, turning a little more towards Kylo, his knee pressing against Ren’s carelessly. «Better?»

The easy touches felt better than he’d even thought they would, Kylo thought but not in direct words. Hux hummed aloud, taking a deep breath through his nose.

«Better.» He was quiet and still, though not really resting. He still felt tension drumming along his nerves, felt it in the connection he and Hux shared mentally and where their legs touched. Layers and layers separating them-- neither shared as much as he once had, but the comfort and familiarity of the sensation hadn’t been lost completely.

Hux was frowning slightly, and he turned to get a better look at Kylo, his eyes flicking over the man’s face. The connection was tentative, open but still fragile, not strong enough to withstand any sort of tension or anger. «What do you want?»

«Nothing.» Kylo Ren’s voice was quiet, the ends of the words indistinct. «You gave me what I wanted.» He looked down at the dropped cloth that had been wrapped around his lightsaber. He could have leaned down to pick it up, but he didn’t want to disturb the very delicate balance they had right now, the touch that even a breath that was too deep could disturb.

Arrik Hux wanted Ren still. Wanted him and needed him. He shifted closer, reaching up to put a hand in Ren’s short hair, sliding his fingers up the back of his neck, settling behind his head. He cradled his head, gripping his hair slowly, pulling him down. Across their tentative connection, Hux sent waves of appreciation and want, that constant since they met, over a year ago. Hux wanted Kylo Ren, wanted his power and wanted his will.

Hux knew now, realized, that he didn’t want to bend or break Kylo Ren. He wanted Ren by his side, aligned with him, fighting with him.

It was impossible not to feel that sort of desire. In Arrik it was a faceted thing, not the usual covetousness he felt from others. Everyone wanted his power, his abilities. They weren’t something anyone could take from him, so it was him they wanted. He was more than a man; he was a weaponized body, he was forbidden power, he was uncontrolled and wild and everyone wanted to be the one to wield him.

Arrik Hux, he felt through their connection, wanted more than that. He wanted to be the crystal clear lens that focused all that power. Like the huge lens on Star Killer, he wanted to be part of the power and outside of it, letting that sort of power run through him and find its purpose in him. Kylo Ren exhaled softly as he let himself bend slightly to Hux’s will and the strength in his gloved hand.

Shifting again, Hux focused entirely on Ren, frowning slightly. It was strange getting used to this after almost a week of almost no contact at all. He could feel everything from Ren, keen and low at the same time, want and acceptance.

He narrowed his eyes, almost unsure.

«Get down,» he ordered, voice quiet, almost a whisper, even in Ren’s head.

The play of emotions over Kylo’s face was completely open, resentment and anger running to confusion and desire. He couldn’t wear the mask that Hux did, schooling his expression so that the workings of his mind and heart were completely hidden. Behind the helmet, Ben’s features showed everything. Without his helmet here, he was more open than he intended.

«Why? Would you have me brought even lower?» He showed Hux a flash of it, how he was forced to his knees in the snow by the combined power of his own Knights.

Hux almost flinched at the image, blinking quickly. He swallowed, pulling on Ren’s hair again, sending him images of Ren on the ground, head against Arrik’s knee, shoulder pressed against him. He would keep and direct him, he would be his compass, his voice. Hux wanted Ren on his knees not to hurt him or embarrass him, not because he wanted to demean him or make him humble. He just wanted to know Ren was something of his, something strong and powerful and angry.

«I won’t ask again.» Hux said, voice getting an edge of steel, hand unmoving.

Kylo Ren’s eyelids slid low over his eyes for a moment, weighing the feel of Hux’s hand on him. What were their plans now, those ridiculous things they’d whispered, betrayals and exaltations? When the Knight had become a danger to the First Order, Hux had dealt with him, using the tools at his disposal. It had been smart, Kylo knew; there was no way Hux could have physically beaten him. He’d used the other Knights, he’d even used Snoke as a weapon to keep his own weapon from leaving. Because he’d been a threat to the First Order. There was something affirming in that- he’d finally become strong enough to be seen that way.

With more grace than he felt, Kylo Ren shifted forward off the sleek sofa, turning so that he was kneeling facing the general when he settled. His grip on the hilt of his lightsaber shook slightly; he felt as unstable as the plasma blade, as hot, as prone to explosions.

«You won’t need to,» he said a little louder in Hux’s head. A reminder that this was still his choice, even if it didn’t feel like it.

Hux shifted his hand, not breathing for a few seconds as Ren lowered himself. He swallowed, keeping his hand on Ren. Hux slid forwards, putting both hands into Ren’s hair, closing his eyes. He sent across acceptance, understanding, a deep knowledge of who Kylo Ren was, at his core. He wanted to keep him, wanted to have him.

Kylo Ren closed his eyes as well, bowing his head as he leaned toward him. He was so close to the other man, he could hear him breathing. «Here I am.»

Arrik shifted forwards, spreading his legs slightly, leaning down towards Kylo Ren.

«Good.» Hux slid his hands through Kylo’s hair, leaning down a little further, pressing his jaw against the side of Kylo’s head. «I want you here.»

«Why?» Kylo asked, though he didn’t need an answer. At the same time, he knew it and didn’t want to know. He moved his head, rubbing against Hux like a large animal.

«I want you.» It wasn’t the answer Kylo wanted, but Arrik didn’t know what else to say. It was the plainest truth he had. He kept Kylo close, almost holding him. He wasn’t sorry for what he had done, he was sorry Ren had driven him to that point. At the very least, Hux was glad that he had been removed from most of it. He had delivered Kylo and then been given the husk.

«How much will you allow yourself to have?» Kylo knew that intense conversation like this would give Hux a headache after a bit. Part of him wanted that, knowing that his presence in the other man’s mind would cause him pain even after he’d withdrawn. He pushed his head against him again, crown of his head against the general’s carefully shaven jaw, cheek against his temple.

«I could have all of you, I would.» Hux murmured, letting Kylo press closer to him. He had one hand sliding up the back of Ren’s neck, his other arm draped over Ren’s shoulder. He pulled him closer and shifted so that his legs framed Kylos shoulders, so that every part Kylo was close to him.

On a whim, Kylo Ren slid his hands up Hux’s thighs, moving them past his hips to his sides. Without asking permission, he pulled the general down as he sat back on his feet, pulling him down off the couch onto his lap. He moved one hand to the small of Hux’s back, relishing the press of Hux’s inner thighs against his legs.

“Are you sure?” he murmured aloud.

Hux was surprised, but he didn’t fight it, shifting for a better position, an easier press against Kylo Ren. He took a deep breath, shifting to sit better on Ren. He took a deep breath, turning his face into Ren’s neck.

“I am.”

Kylo dug his fingers into Hux’s lower back, taking a deep breath. He could feel all of him, the taut muscles pulling at fine bones that he could break just by thinking about it. His breath moved Kylo’s newly short hair by his ears and the Knight made a quiet noise. He had questions, but what was the point of them? The answers were things Hux had told him all along. If it had come down to it, the First Order was his priority. If it came down to it, the general would always shoot. He’d never lied, and this here, this was no lie either.

Turning his head, Kylo Ren bared his teeth against Hux’s exposed neck, inhaling the scent of him, feeling the heat and life of him. He bit him, wanting to mark him, to taste him. He held his arm around Hux’s waist, keeping him in place.

Hux made a noise, frowning, but he didn’t pull away. He tugged on Ren’s hair, dragging his head back. He knew what Ren wanted. «Not where anyone can see.»

«Is that your biggest concern? Now?» Kylo Ren lifted his head, though he didn’t pull away from Hux’s hold in his hair.

Hux could feel the headache coming but didn’t care. He growled, twisting his hand in Kylo’s hair again. «I’m still a general, Kylo Ren.»

«And I am still outside your careful hierarchy, Arrik Hux,» he murmured, feeling the pain and wanting it to continue, wanting to leave these marks on him, in him.

“Nobody else on this ship, or any other, has that honor,” Hux snarled, twisting his hand a little more. “You want to leave a mark, do it under the uniform.”

“Choose a spot, general,” Kylo said quietly, wincing slightly as he felt the little hairs pulling away from his scalp under Hux’s hand. «Show me.»

Arrik shifted forwards, pressing closer to Ren for another second, jutting his hips forward. He turned, pressing his mouth against the side of Ren’s head, imagining Ren’s mouth on his collarbone. He scrambled with his hands, one wrapping in Kylo’s cowl, the other pulling at his jacket.

Cursing the small clasps that held the front of the general’s jacket closed, Kylo Ren yanked at the sides after he had undone a few, bending the rest as he pulled the sides apart. Then there were buttons to undo on the black shirt beneath, and the Knight considered tearing the fabric, imagining the sound it would make as the fibers split apart from one another. One button was lost as he finally got the shirt open and dragged it down to expose Arrik’s shoulder.

“Colder,” Hux explained, almost without thinking, “more layers than before.” He kept his hand in Kylo’s wrap, making a noise as he let their connection grow, let Kylo feel more, know more.

The Knight bent his head, mouth lightly against the pale skin he’d exposed. Hux’s body seemed warm, letting off the heat he’d accumulated beneath his heavy coat and his stiff uniform. Kylo inhaled him, body and mind, taking as much in as he dared; he didn’t want it all this time. Hux’s past danced beneath his skin like the subtle pulse in his temple, and Kylo Ren knew so much of it already; he remembered grief that wasn’t his for a mother who wasn’t his. He could kiss him, the way he had before, but he didn’t want that. He wanted this, to break blood vessels darken that skin that had nearly burnt in the Tyrakos sun.

Arrik didn’t let anything stay between them, didn’t hold anything back from Ren, but it wasn’t as if Hux had too many secrets from Kylo. He wanted this too, wanted Ren to want him, want their closeness back.

Kylo lowered his head further, pulling Hux back with his hold on the back of his opened collar. The muscles in Hux’s torso tightened to maintain his balance and Kylo gave him no help. He bit him hard, just below the sharp line of his collarbone, the skin thin where it stretched over that slim ridge toward his shoulder.

Hux groaned as Kylo’s teeth dug into his skin, he could feel the ache already spreading.

There was something deep and instinctive in Kylo Ren that made him bite harder, feeling the moment his teeth broke skin in their attempt to meet. He pulled back slightly, tongue lapping against the deep indentations to find the taste of blood.

“Kylo,” Hux murmured, trying to inch closer to Ren, a hand back in his hair. “We’re just in the lounge. We can’t stay.”

Kylo Ren drew back, looking intently at the mark by the general’s collar bone before raising his eyes to his face. It seemed a difficult to disengage his fingers, to slowly release the back of Hux’s jacket and let him sit up again.

“That’s fine, general,” he said quietly. “That was all I needed.”

Hux was breathing hard as he was pulled back up. He tightened his legs around Kylo’s hips again but made no move to stand or pull away from Kylo. Taking a deep breath, he finally shifted, hands on Kylo’s shoulders. He sat back up on the couch, legs still spread, Kylo’s shoulders still nestled between them.

He buttoned up his shirt, fixed his suspenders, and then fastened his jacket again. He pushed his hair back into place, running his hands over his neck gently, trying to feel if there were any tender spots that might give way to a bruise later.

Shifting forward, Arrik put a hand in Ren’s hair again, pulling him forward until his cheek pressed against Arrik’s leg. Kylo inhaled deeply, eyes closing for a moment. He let himself concentrate on the weave of the fabric against his skin, the warmth of his thigh. Hux’s whole body seemed warm now, a furnace of physical heat and roiling emotion. It was indulgent to drink it all in, but he didn’t stop himself. There was no need for restraint, not here, not now that he’d marked him.

«What do you want now, Arrik?» he asked, pushing that headache, that other mark.

Hux sighed, moving his hand slightly in Ren’s hair. He took a deep breath and shrugged. “Nothing,” he said quietly, regarding Ren through complacent eyes. “I’m just waiting.”

“Waiting,” Kylo Ren murmured from his spot by the other man’s knee. “What are you waiting for?”

“Nothing,” Hux repeated, still barely moving his hand, fingers sliding through short hair. “I can just wait.”

The younger man felt as though he’d spent most of his life waiting; it was a familiar irritation that the general would be so easy about it. When Hux’s short fingernails grazed his scalp, it was still electricity. When he felt him in his head, it was still quickening. And yet...waiting.

Kylo Ren couldn’t think of anything to say, and where Ben Solo would have filled the silence with a quip or obnoxious comment, Kylo Ren stayed silent, pressing his mouth and biting the inside of his lower lip.

Hux didn’t move much, leaning forwards to rest his chin in his hand, head tilted to the side as he regarded Kylo Ren. He wasn’t rushed, didn’t push Ren or send anything to him, just sat there as space shot around them, bringing them closer and closer to the Vindication.

«I met Joran at the Academy,» Arrik said, speaking quietly. «He was a year ahead of me. I picked him out. Smart, ambitious, but he needed guidance. A vision. I kept him close during our time at Arkanis.»

Kylo took a breath, then let it out slowly, feeling himself move against the insides of Hux’s thigh as he did. «Have you picked everyone around you? Even those above you?»

«Many of them.» Hux agreed, smirking, satisfied. «I crafted the First Order by my own hand. I have built this new power in the universe. I will not see it wasted or threatened.»

It was impossible to hear his voice without remembering the general’s cold eyes in the hallway the day Kylo had tried to leave Star Killer, the way the man had anticipated everything, even though he couldn’t have known the Knight would balk at this, their actual weapon of triumph. Kylo Ren hadn’t even known himself how he would react to the dead planet, to the idea of that level of destruction (he felt the pain still, but there was a gulf of numbness between it and his mind now), yet Hux had already contacted the other Knights, had cut off his communications, had blacked out the hangars.

«The First Order was not your creation. It was already a machine in motion when you were a child,» Kylo told him with a faint bit of mocking in his tone.

«It was half a thing, Kylo,» Hux murmured, leaning down even further, «I have made the First Order something with focus. Ambition beyond the Outer Rim.»

Kylo Ren heard the unspoken words. He’d been chosen too. As Hux had made selections from all classes at the Academy, pulling cadets to himself when they’d been more promise and potential than realized skill, so had the general tugged at the loose strings of a smuggler with had had no direction.

«And now? You go to flex your muscle and show a new system what the First Order is capable of?» He raised his chin slightly, putting his face closer to Hux’s.

«I go to support an old friend.» Hux frowned, closed his eyes and turned his head as a sharp spike of pain shot through his temple. He swallowed and took a deep breath, eyes still closed. “Unity and support. Strength and solidarity. All working as one.”

The switch to speaking aloud didn’t go unnoticed. It wasn’t for emphasis; the headache echoed back along their connection. Kylo Ren put his defenses up again, unwilling to leave himself exposed any longer than he had to.

“Certainly that is your method,” he said quietly. “Thus far, I suppose it has worked for you.” He raised his head, squaring his shoulders a little more as he sat up.

“Thus far,” Hux agreed, smirking at Ren’s use of the phrase. What a difference. He recognized the feeling of being closed off, shut out. It hurt more than he realized, it tugged at him, made him want to keep Ren even closer. He tugged at Kylo’s hair.

«Would you rather I hurt myself for you?» Hux asked, reaching out, glaring slightly. «Render myself useless to sate your pride?»

«Hurt yourself?» The words were too sharp; Kylo Ren watched the pain ripple across the general’s face. «Seeing you in pain may be a new favorite thing of mine.» He tried to keep his tone flat and emotionless, needing to be what the empty helmet lying on the floor promised he was. But he felt too deeply, and always had. He had missed their closeness, and now wasn’t sure what was left of it that wasn’t commands and wounding one another.

«Is that all you want? To mark me with teeth only to enjoy my pain after? Is that all you want from me? Blood?» Hux sneered without speaking aloud, leaning down further. He turned his hand in Kylo’s hair cruelly. «Well you don’t need my permission, Lord Ren, you can take whatever you want, isn’t that right?»

Kylo let Hux pull his hair, letting his head be pulled to the side. He closed his eyes and left his throat exposed. He was calm and defiant, slightly tired.

“Or we could leave it for the night.” He held himself still.

Hux swallowed and released his grip on Ren’s hair. He didn’t want to fight with Kylo Ren, and he knew that this would lead nowhere. The general sat back, not touching Ren anymore, frowning slightly. He was still tired, they were tired.

“We’ll leave it, then,” Hux murmured, considering Ren carefully. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, leaning back. Ren exhausted him, without even trying. “We’ll fight another time.”

Kylo turned slightly to look up at Hux, taking advantage of the other man’s closed eyes to really look him over. He looked exhausted, though Kylo Ren couldn’t think of a good reason for it. He’d never to his usual schedule, sleeping as the notifications on his datapad indicated. Maybe the general was having bad dreams. Maybe he was worried about something. Maybe he just really needed a vacation.

“I’m sure during the course of our...work together, we’ll have many opportunities,” he said lowly, putting a hand on either of Hux’s thighs to push himself up to standing.

Hux didn’t open his eyes, shifted slightly.

“I enjoy it when you’re near.” Hux took a deep breath. “I doubt you needed to hear it, but maybe you do,” Hux murmured, shifting to run his hands through his hair.

It was a strange thing to hear, and not unpleasant. How often had he ever heard anything like that, from anyone he’d been with, had any kind of relationship with? Kylo looked over the general’s face, taking in the way his eyelashes fanned on his cheeks as though resting there, the way the corners of his mouth were still slightly taut, like a man fighting sleep or tears or making the final comment that would destroy or begin something. Watching Hux’s fingers, the Knight moved his hand to let his own follow in their wake. His fingertips, still gloved, brushed the top of Hux’s ear before he pulled his hand back.

“I’ve always liked having you around,” he said as he stepped back. “It was just easier when I had you locked up on my ship.”

“Too bad I’ve never been able to lock you up,” Hux murmured, turning his head slightly. He smirked and opened his eyes. There was a moment’s pause before he took a deep breath, looking away. He shifted forward and picked up his pad, gesturing.

“I’m retiring to my room. I hope to get some rest in before we get to the Vindication. I believe we’ll be needed for a few rotations in a row.”

Kylo Ren nodded to him, reaching down past him to pick up his helmet. There was a brief moment when their shoulders pressed together, and he didn’t shy away from the contact. A moment later, his expression was hidden, locked away with a quiet hydraulic sigh.

“That’s not a problem.” He walked to the door; he’d figure out where he’d been put from some randomly stationed stormtrooper. “Call me when you need me, general.”

Hux inclined his head, picking up his greatcoat.

“Of course, Lord Ren. I expect you at your best.”

“There is nothing else.” Kylo Ren’s tone was unemotional; he wasn’t boasting, it was just a statement of fact. This was what he had now. He left the room, back straight and shoulders set as though expecting an attack at any moment.

Hux watched him leave, smirking. He slid his coat over his shoulders and left the lounge as well, heading to the officer’s quarters. He needed to prepare for his arrival. Joran was an old friend and one of the few officers underneath him that he respected. There was a bit of a history there, back when they were younger men.

He decided it wasn’t important for Ren to know. After all, the Knight had seen one of his bedmates killed and thrown a second out of his rooms half-clothed. The general didn’t think that a third would fare quite as well against this version of Kylo Ren.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone! Enjoy this chapter. No T/Ws for this chapter. Star Wars typical violence/character death.

The _Vindication_ was a resurgent class Star Destroyer off the same line as the _Finalizer_ . Looking at the massive ship from the cockpit of the _Javelin_ the two would be nearly indistinguishable, barely any difference in their design.

They left the shuttle with little fanfare, but as the ramp descended, Hux was greeted by a formal presentation of officers and troopers. He was a visiting officer, and higher ranking than the commander of the _Vindication_ , and it was obvious that despite the circumstances, they were treating his arrival with a good amount of respect.

Exiting the _Javelin_ , he hid his smirk, walking directly through the saluting soldiers towards Colonel Barril. He inclined his head as the Colonel saluted, and the offered his hand to shake. Kylo Ren, helmet masking any expression, walked slightly behind the general. He glanced around at the assembled crew, but only with his eyes; the helmet remained facing straight ahead.

The Colonel was young, only a few years older than Arrik, with dark hair that was already peppered with gray and broad shoulders. Joran had a square jaw, chiseled features and lines around his eyes and mouth that belied a more easygoing attitude than Arrik possessed. They shook hands, and Arrik took a step back, gesturing towards Kylo Ren.

“The Lord Knight, Kylo Ren, their paramount and leader.”

Joran stepped forward and then bowed to Kylo Ren, not offering his hand to the Knight.

“An honor, Lord Ren,” Barril said, standing up straight again. “I have prepared your rooms, if you wish to rest after your trip.”

“No need, Colonel,” Hux interrupted, “We had an easy journey, and I’m afraid we left Star Killer without downloading any specifics about the Olbirlian Rebellions.”

“Always to business, General,” Barril smirked, shaking his head. He gestured into the ship. “The war room, then.”

He turned, and he and Hux walked down the bay, walking towards the in-tram. The general looked over his shoulder at Kylo Ren and nodded, encouraging him to follow.

Kylo Ren pressed his mouth but followed them wordlessly, arms swinging slightly as he walked. The _Vindicator_ was an exact replica of the _Finalizer_ , neither of the giant ships having any personality to speak of. Joran’s easy demeanor was the most notable difference on the ship, though Hux’s sharp crew didn’t seem to be any more dedicated than the _Vindicator’s_ crew; there was the same brisk pace, the same tight schedules that everyone knew and followed.

He wondered if Joran’s rooms were also an exact match to the officers’ quarters Hux lived in, if even the personal decor items were just part of the ships’ design. He clenched his hand by his side as they walked. Big war ships lacked the personal touch he required in a fight.

The crew of the _Vindicator_ made way for the two officers and the Knight. They moved out of the way, went further down the tram. The tone was a little more talkative than that of the Finalizer, but the men still commanded the same amount of respect, with just a touch of reverence.

“There are only two life-sustaining planets in the system, but both are providing problems. There are near-humans on Faolan, and a beast-like sentient species on Kaonna. Each believes themselves to be the ruling class in the system. The Kan have been around for millenia, and evolved natively, and the near-humans were apparently part of a colonization effort nearly eight thousand years ago.”

“Infighting.” Hux shook his head. “Who is the current regional power?”

“The Kan. While not as technologically advanced, they are perfectly adapted to the environment, and they have a hive-mind knowledge archive they can access under certain conditions,” Joran explained, using his wrist comm to send along the local information to both Kylo Ren and Hux.

“What does this have to do with us?” Kylo Ren asked, voice rumbling through his vocoder. He never minded being the one who asked that question; if nothing else, his father had given him that. “Let them fight it out and the stronger can have the system.”

Hux glanced over at Ren but didn’t say anything, pressing his mouth. Barril shrugged.

“This system is a key to helping us provide provisions to our troops stationed along the Veltiu hyperlane. We’ve set up transport areas along the nearby orbitals, and this is one of the last stops where our ships can gather their own supplies, refuel and top off any shipments that may have been lost or destroyed before they go further into the Unknown Regions. We can’t have our ships attached by either the Kan or the Faolings,” Joran explained as they got off the tram.

“We need to be the power,” Hux murmured, not quite trailing after Joran. “Paramount, absolute.”

“At the very least we need to stop them from attacking our ships.” Barril gestured them into a lift. “We would prefer not to destroy the societies, and come to a real understanding, but it seems as if the two cultures have assumed we are working for the other.”

Kylo Ren took a deep breath, already feeling irritation with both planets. He’d never been a patient man, but now he felt that he couldn’t stand waiting for anything or anyone for more than two minutes.

“We’ve tried negotiating,” Barril said as the lift rose, turning to glance at his pad. “We have hit an impasse for a third time, and we’re running out of options. Our ships are still being attacked.”

Hux glanced at Kylo Ren, reaching over to subtly touch Ren’s elbow, grounding him.

“What are you considering, Colonel?” Hux asked

It took a great deal of restraint to keep his mouth shut, Kylo Ren found. Once negotiations had failed (if they were even worth it in the first place), there was only one course of action.

“There’s one last goodwill mission on the ground on both planets,” Barril explained as they walked out of the lift. “But we have a group of forces prepared to deploy.”

Hux nodded, still following the colonel as they went through the level directly underneath the bridge. “Prepared.”

“Prepared, sir.” Joran smirked, glancing back at Hux before opening up the war room. “I’m disappointed you didn’t bring Phasma along. Always a riot when she’s around, giving orders, blinding the opposing infantry.”

“Are you looking to make an example?” Kylo Ren asked, speaking over the colonel’s last word. “Or are you looking for a clean military display, colonel?” He walked into the room before him, a large, dark presence in the room. He didn’t know how much experience with the Knights of Ren Joran had had, but he wanted to make sure his own position was very clear in all of this.

“Not particularly,” Barril followed Ren, glancing over at Hux curiously before going to the war table and entering a code. The lights dimmed and the solar system came into view, the two planets of interest pulsating gently. “There are few out here that would benefit from reeducation. Most of the sentients and systems are happy to cede galactic authority to the First Order. The Kan and the Faoling are an exception.”

“So you want to pull them into line quietly? While they shoot at your ships.” Kylo’s voice was still calm, but the undercurrent was faintly mocking.

“What I’m saying, Lord Ren,” Joran turned to him, his smile thin, dangerous, “Is that I don’t care whether these sentients are brought to heel or not. Pull them into line or toss them aside, I don’t give a shit. I want their activities to come to an immediate end.”

Barril looked over at Hux, who had his eyebrows up only incrementally. “You’re wasting too many resources here,” Hux inferred. “You want this dealt with.”

“Maximum efficiency, minimal losses. The Faoling have well armed navies and the ground infantry of the Kan are nearly unbeatable.”

Hux nodded, looking to Ren. “Show us the Kaonnan terrain. Ren will be most useful leading a ground attack.”

Kylo Ren nodded to Hux, ducking his head low. It was enough deference that it should have pleased him in front of another officer.

“I also want information on their weapons. And religion.” He said it with no trace of irony. Most importantly, he wanted to know if there were any Force-sensitives among them.

“We can provide that. I’ll have my lieutenant forward along our current research.”

“And what are you planning to do, colonel? Or have you decided to leave decisions to General Hux, as you have failed to make much progress?” Kylo Ren’s voice was still quiet, but the echo remained in the room even after the mechanically altered words had ended. Behind the helmet, his lip curled as he felt Joran’s immediate anger.

Hux’s eyes flashed steel as he looked over at Kylo, warning him to be quiet.

“The plan, Lord Ren, is to launch a two pronged attack on the system. The General’s record is untouchable,” Barril almost dared Kylo to say something to contrary, as if he could withstand any amount of concertation himself but none regarding Hux. “I needed a man with experience to take out the Faoling navies while preserving our own.”

Since no one could see it, Kylo didn’t bother to tamp down his smile. It wouldn’t really come through the vocoder anyway. Angry little men in their angry little uniforms with their angry little guns. What they needed was a force of nature.

In this case, he was happy to oblige.

“And your defeats on the ground? Where do you need your next attack to succeed?” he asked.

“Our defeats have been political,” Barril snapped. Where Hux hid his contempt and upset, Joran wore it plainly. “The Kan government is split three ways, we will attack the Resource Hub from the sky, and then launch a double attack on the Service Center and Political Capitol.”

Even looking at it with broad strokes everything was intricate and relied on the perfection of the other invading forces. It was a perfect test for Arrik Hux, in an area of the outer rim where reinforcements from the Order were too far away, their own resources limited, and none forthcoming to aid the Kan or Faolings either. Cleverness and brute force would win this campaign. Swift, efficient, unhesitating.

Kylo Ren waited with apparent patience to see how he would be used in these campaigns. They seemed to have everything lined up with ships and ground forces. What did Hux plan to do with him besides stand him up in the war room as a black-clad monolith?

“General Hux will lead the attack on Faolan, and we will fight through the systems on Koanna,” Barril said, stepping back. “We will be mounting the invasion within the next two rotations.”

Kylo Ren looked over at Hux and raised his eyebrows, even though the gesture would be lost on the other man.

“And what would you have me do?”

“Invade,” Hux said idly, stepping forward and pointing at Koanna. The planet expanded over the entire table and with a few quick gestures Hux spread the Political Capitol along the surface.

“Here-” Colonel Barril pointed at a main thoroughfare. “We want to make an impression, after all.”

Taking the layout of the city in at a glance, Kylo stepped closer to the table. The colonel had a very straightforward manner of thinking, which wasn’t necessarily bad, though he’d come to expect more from people Hux took into his confidence. Maybe there was more here that he hadn’t gotten yet. Maybe he was just used to another caliber of commanding officer.

“You intend to take those three towers by the gate down?” he asked.

“That’ll be up to you.” Barril said, looking up at Ren. “You’ll have air support, a legion of troopers.” He paused.

“If you don’t feel comfortable with command, we can assign a legion commander to your force. They’ll be able to make informed decisions.”

“I believe my decisions will be sufficient for your men, provided they are ready to obey and perform to the levels expected of them by the Supreme Leader.” In all honesty, Kylo Ren hadn’t had a lot of experience commanding large groups of stormtroopers. He was used to commanding his own Knights (when they weren’t turning on him under Snoke’s orders) or even Phasma’s Elect on several occasions. But he generally left the command of ground troops to the First Order hierarchy that was already established while he went in to take out the leader. “However,” he continued, “Make sure that there is a legion commander who can give orders if I need to pursue something not immediately in the area.”

He needed to have the freedom to move, the movement to fight, to destroy, to level a fighting field alone. Hux knew this, he imagined, that he couldn’t be tied to a legion.

Hux glanced at Barril and nodded. “Kylo Ren is an effective solution to many battlefield situations.”

Barril frowned, looking over at Hux again for a few seconds. Hux nodded again, gesturing. “The Lord Ren is unlike any knight you’ve ever directed or seen. His powers exceed that of any other soldier in our armies, any other technology we have. I can vouch for his effectiveness on his own.”

“If you say so,” Barril muttered, looking Ren up and down obviously.

“Don’t tease, Joran,” Hux said quietly, putting a hand on the table and turning his wrist to see another view of the city. “He’s standing right there.”

Kylo Ren’s hands had balled into tight fists by his sides. However, it wasn’t the colonel’s onceover that brought the fury up in his chest. It was the quiet amusement in Hux’s voice when he said the man’s name. His first name.

“If you require a personal display of my fighting prowess, I’d be happy to spar with you. Colonel.” The rank rumbled through his vocoder dismissively.

Hux kept his face perfectly still as he continued to look over the Kan Capitol. Barril was not so passive. He made a noise like disgust and annoyance, something that rang out with disbelief.

“Of course not. In a few days you’ll be put to the test. The General has set high expectations on you,” he said snidely, “no doubt you’ll perform admirably.”

“I have faith in Lord Ren,” Hux responded, looking up at the Colonel. “Underestimating him would be a mistake.”

“Colonel Barril is already used to mistakes, general,” Kylo Ren said smoothly. “It will be a pleasure to show him the proof.”

Barril’s easy posture straightened immediately, any semblance of a smile on his face immediately dropped as he turned to face Ren. The Knight remained exactly where he was, posture easy and shoulders dropped slightly. His fight stance.

“Careful, Ren.” Hux’s voice was soft, but it snapped across the tension like a whip

Kylo Ren turned his head to look at Hux, mouth pressed into a tight line. Hux glanced up at the knight, not turning away from the projection of the city.

“You’re both proud men, working towards the same cause. Let’s not sow discord among ourselves.” Hux took a step back from the table, looking over at Barril, whose hands remained clenched by his sides.

“I will reserve final judgement until I am proven wrong,” Barril said tightly, gesturing towards the table, sending Koanna spinning back into orbit. Another movement and the space surrounding Faolan, the ring of ice circling the planet and the several small moons that orbited it.

Hux narrowed his eyes, taking in the scene.

“This is…”

“Interesting? Fun?” Barril’s good humor had returned, and he smirked at Hux, crossing his arms.

“It provides an even playing field,” Hux said finally.

“For them?” Barril laughed, looking over the Faolan cluster.

“Well we want to give them a chance to survive longer than ten minutes.” Hux looked over at Barril, smirking slightly. “There’s a reason I’m here, after all.” He reached out and turned the planet slowly, watching the large asteroids orbit around Faolan.

“Ren?” Hux spoke without turning towards Kylo. “What do you think?”

“What sort of ships will you be engaging? You obviously intend to take on both planets’ forces at once. What does that mean in terms of firepower for you up here?” He tilted his head slightly, the silver on the front of his helmet catching the light.

Barril almost rolled his eyes, but instead contented himself with looking skeptical and amused at the same time. Hux responded, still turning Faolan slowly on its axis.

“You and the Colonel will be supported by a large auxiliary force, and I will be commanding the _Vindication_ above Faolan. I will be using our TIE fleets, as well as our larger Obstruction-class shield and mobile ion-cannon ships. The ships the Faolings use are a far less advanced, with crude weaponry, but if they deploy their entire fleet, they may outnumber us. My first instinct is to attack the planet in waves. I believe that eliminating the naval protection around Faolan will force them to surrender without a ground invasion.” As Hux spoke he took a step back, frowning slightly, looking over the space around Faolan. Beside him, Barril nodded.

“There are a few things I’ve noticed from the guerilla attacks they’ve launched on our transport ships. I’ll send the footage along with my notes.”

“Very good,” Hux said, looking over at Barril for a second. “Ren and I should be given time to review the specifics of our assignments. I would recommend that you and Ren get together to better coordinate the attack on the ground.”

“Decide where you want me, general,” Kylo said, eyes still moving over the holo of the planet, absorbing as much information as he could. This was a system he knew nothing about, sentients he knew nothing about. “I’ll be happy to put down this uprising that’s been plaguing you on Koanna. Once I have seen the weapon array the capitol is defended with, I’ll know what strategy to put into place. You can defeat the Faoling fleet...and should you need someone to clean up what’s left on the ground, I’ll be through with the Kan by then.”

There was no doubt in his words. He knew his own abilities, and the voice that had made him hesitant before was almost silent now. If he kept himself angry, taking the slights and frustrations around them and building them to a constant fever pitch (including the smoldering anger than still ignited everything, the anger he couldn’t act on but could always draw from), he could barely feel that light that just refused to die, refused to stop asking soft soft questions.

Barril crossed his arms, eyebrows raising. He had a skeptical look on his face as Ren assured Hux that he would be finished by the time an invasion of Faolan was to happen. There were only a few people Joran had ever seen with more arrogance, and the attitude did nothing to recommend the Knight.

“A ground attack might not be necessary, their fleet is their main defense,” Barril explained, almost glaring at Ren. “I suspect that the Faoling government would surrender before subjecting themselves to fight on their own planet.”

“We will reassess when the time comes, Colonel. I’ve found colonies tend to act more irrationally than native species when it comes to admitting defeat.” Hux stepped forward again, raising his hand to zoom out of the holo, getting a better view of the planet and it’s surrounding astral masses.

Barril’s irritation with him was very obvious to Ren, but it wasn’t as though he was trying to make friends here. There was no reason. Everyone was here for a specific job, and he knew his. He didn’t for a second doubt that he would need to be called down onto the planet to finish off the colony’s rebellion. Which was tiresome work, really, more suited to stormtroopers than a Knight of Ren. But if this was his assignment (and let him leave Star Killer Base), then he’d make sure it was the best sort of destruction there was.

“Whatever sort of invasion decisions are made, Koanna isn’t more than a half-hour’s jump. We could have boots down within the hour.” Barril’s voice was tense as he spoke, observing Hux in profile.

Kylo Ren said nothing, watching Barril watch Hux. The emotions from his side were strange, full of the usual adulation that the general tended to evoke, along with fondness and a nauseating nostalgia. His old friend, Hux had said. The Knight let jealousy stoke the fire in his chest a little more. He was ready to fight now.

Hux had never before been so annoyed by his own ability to read a room. The fact that Ren was jealous of Joran for some strange reason, and had risen to the occasion with his usual willfulness. Hux had never known the Colonel to take well to a challenge, and he knew personally how absolutely infuriating Ren could be.

He was caught in between these two men, and it was absurd.

The general took a step back and gestured, turning off the holo.

“I’d like to take a few hours to review this information in my quarters, and do any research that I require,” Hux stated, looking over at Barril. The colonel nodded, walking to the exit.

“Of course. We have made accommodations for you and the Lord Ren in the commander’s wing.” The doors slid open and the Colonel bowed slightly as Hux exited, and then stood straight as Ren passed.

Hux reached out towards Ren carefully as he walked towards the lift, Barril returning to his right hand.

«Calm yourself.»

Ren stayed beside Hux as they walked, knowing the sensation of Hux’s mind and letting his guard down sufficiently for them to speak.

«I’m perfectly calm. You didn’t tell me he’d be like this.»

«Like what, Ren? He’s the paramount of the ship, what did you expect?» Hux managed to keep his face absolutely neutral as they all walked into the lift, thanking Barril as he passed his two guests cylinders.

Kylo didn’t say anything aloud to Barril, simply took the cylinder from him and nodded sharply. «He’s a stuck up asshole. He doesn’t think I can handle anything.»

«That’s not true,» Hux said, frowning slightly. He took a deep breath, glancing at Barril.

“How is the rest of the quadrant?” Hux asked as they exited the lift on the officer’s level.

“Performing admirably,” Barril responded, smirking slightly. He was proud, bordering on arrogant. “All our stations are fully operational. Our academies are recruiting at above the ninetieth percentile, we’re very pleased.”

“Commendable, Colonel,” Hux agreed, smiling slightly. “It’s almost as if you’re working hard.”

“Oh you know, General,” Barril’s tone was teasing, as if he had forgotten Ren was there, as if he were working to impress only Hux. “Living for the thrill of it all. Fighting for more.”

“Now, who taught you to fight like that?” Hux’s voice was almost kidding, tinged with something not quite as serious as usual.

Barril chuckled, but didn’t respond, opening up foyer to the triplet commander berths.

“Kylo Ren, you’re on the left, General, straight ahead. I’m wanted on the bridge, so you’ll excuse me if I leave immediately.”

“Of course,” Hux muttered, inclining his head slightly. Joran bowed to Hux in return and then nodded curtly at Kylo Ren.

“Knight,” he said, almost a taunt, before turning and closing the door, leaving the two men alone in the foyer.

Kylo felt the muscles in his jaw tighten like snakes coiling around the bone. He wanted to show Joran exactly what a Knight of Ren was, what he was capable of. His lightsaber would cut through that expression as though the colonel’s face was made of old paper.

He turned sharply to look at Hux, rage simmering around him like heat. It was almost visible in the air when his heavy cape settled.

“You can’t deny his disrespect, general,” he said through gritted teeth.  
“You imagine slights where there are none,” Hux said, going over to his berth and opening it. “Lets have something to eat. There’s much to talk about, especially if you’re so intent on making Joran Barril into some kind of worm rather than a decorated officer.” He walked in, glancing over at Ren. “You’re going to have to trust him, you know.”

“I’ll trust him when I’ve confirmed what he says myself. A decorated officer.” Kylo Ren made a dismissive noise that was very clear through the voice modulator on his helmet. “Will you be making such speeches to him about me?” He followed Hux over toward his berth, not really caring to investigate his own. It could have been a closet. All he needed was a place to sleep and a place to meditate. The rest was just space.

“I might have to, considering the way you two were acting,” Hux snapped, going over to the desk area and pulling off his gloves and greatcoat. He went into his sleeping quarters, found one of his pads out of his luggage and then returned to the main room. He scanned the cylinder and the pad was instantly connected to the _Vindicator’s_ mainframe and databanks. “If you were an officer, I would have said that you were at his throat.”

“And not being an officer, where does that put me, in relation to Colonel Barril?” Kylo asked with a little bit of heat coloring his voice as well. He stood in the center of the main room, watching Hux’s sharp, decisive movements without moving himself.

“Something like an equal, which obviously infuriates you both and spurs you towards greater incendiary tactics,” Hux muttered, setting his pad down. He went back into the small attached kitchen and poured himself a glass of water and found a probar. “It would be almost amusing if it were between children and not grown men in possession of massive amounts of firepower.”

“The firepower makes it more interesting,” Kylo Ren said, again following Hux with his eyes while he remained a still figure in the main room. He was also very aware that while Barril commanded a ship’s array, that didn’t really measure up to the fact that he could choke him in the war room without breaking a sweat or doing more than closing his hand by his side. “Tell me what we’re doing, general.”

“I am going to be doing research,” Hux said as he sat down, already pulling up dual screens at the desk, his datapad beeping next to his elbow. “You can either contribute to the conversation or find another way to entertain yourself. If you decide to meditate, hopefully you do so without breaking any furniture.”

Unseen, the Knight rolled his eyes theatrically as he walked over to the work desk.

“It’s not even worth breaking,” he muttered as he pulled up the other chair and sat down, looking over the apps and information as Hux brought them up. “I still don’t understand this. Your friend couldn’t handle what should be a routine mission, so he called you up and you’ll bail him out?”

“It’s not routine, Ren.” Hux almost sounded exasperated. As if Kylo Ren would know what _routine_ was within the First Order expansion. “We’re not trying to destroy the planets we stand beside, we’re not trying to leave desolation, it doesn’t make sense. Our resources are not as extensive as our ambition and we need to make use of all our advantages. I am an advantage.” It was said evenly, without bragging.

“He’s had this plan, he just needed a few more leaders to help execute it. If you weren’t here I would have asked Phasma to accompany me. We couldn’t bring the _Finalizer_ , as it’s guarding Star Killer. Other Star Destroyers are too far away. This isn’t the first time I’ve joined a campaign during its final stages.”

As much as he respected Phasma, the idea that they were interchangeable stung a bit. Kylo stood up, pushing the chair back loudly as he did. He walked over to the couch on the other side of the room, watching out the window for a minute before sitting slowly. As he’d guessed, it was an exact replica of his old uncomfortable couch on the _Finalizer_.

“Then I’ll attack wherever you require leadership.”

“Are you promising to attack the leadership or lead the attack?” Hux asked, face neutral. It was nearly a joke.

The featureless helmet swung over in Hux’s direction, immediately trying to ascertain if the man had actually shown a crack in his humorless facade. It was so hard to tell, even having known him the way he had in the past.

“Don’t make me lay down decisions on an empty stomach, general,” he said finally. His mouth wasn’t sure it could smile, but there was some of it in his voice.

“You know how to cook, Ren.” Hux glanced over at him before returning his attention to the screens. “Make enough for both of us.”

It was only after he’d walked into the kitchen and pulled out the staples to make a simple egg and protein sort of scramble that Kylo realized Hux had called him “Ren.” For some reason, he’d thought he’d called him “Ben,” because who would tell a Knight to cook dinner, to head to the kitchen wearing his helmet, with his lightsaber still clipped to his belt? He hesitated as he cut up some smoked meat, setting the knife down to reach up for his helmet latch. He’d have to remove it to eat anyway, right?

Setting his jaw, he lowered his hand and continued chopping. He’d remove it then.

In the other room Hux focused on the information, storing snippets of data on his own pad. He had the Faoling ships, stations, major battle deployments. There wasn’t much footage of actual battles, which made guesswork out of strategy. He sat back, running his hands through his hair, imagining all the ways the astral bodies around Faolan could be used to an advantage when his pad pinged.

_Perhaps you would fare better if you kept the Knight on a shorter leash. -Col. Barril_

Hux’s eyebrows snapped up, an expression of extreme surprise. He blinked once and then took a deep breath before responding.

_I’m afraid he’d enjoy that too much. -A Hux_

Kylo Ren stepped out of the kitchen, but stayed by the doorway to watch Hux. He’d felt the sharp surprise from the other man, and expected to find something more worthy of the emotion than just something on his datapad. Without thinking, he raised his hand and the datapad was wrenched out of Hux’s grip and flew across the room into Kylo’s. Hux hadn’t had time to close the message or lock the tech, and the messages were there, center screen.

On a shorter leash.

The Knight didn’t say anything for a second, reading and re-reading the short messages. Then he dropped the datapad, but it didn’t hit the ground; it remained hovering near his hand, caught and turning slowly.

“A leash?” he asked quietly, danger sliding along the sharp edges of his teeth as he spoke.

Hux turned toward Ren slowly, keeping his expression absolutely neutral. He looked up at Ren’s helmet, finding himself annoyed, again, by the fact that he couldn’t see Ren’s face. He set his jaw, ignored the anger that he could hear even through the vocoder, and shrugged.

“Light words between friends,” he said, voice calm. “It means little.”

“Light words at my expense. With your... _friend_.” The datapad continued to rotate lazily, as though he’d forgotten it was there.

Hux sighed through his nose, running a hand through his hair again. The part had come undone after so much teasing. His pride didn’t hinge on this, the small joke meant nothing to him.

“I apologize. It was a thoughtless comment.”

“That seems to be something catching within the _Vindicator_ .” Kylo Ren pursed his lips and his fingers tensed. The datapad made a squeaking, groaning sound. “If my presence is distracting you from time with your _friend_ , then I’ll return to Star Killer and await further orders from the Supreme Leader.”

“I want you here,” Hux said, not looking away from Ren’s helmet. “I already apologized, admitted some wrong, what else would you have me do? You’re threatening dramatics over two short messages, when soon you will be laden with responsibility regardless.”

“If Colonel Barril continues to disrespect me, it will be more than threats, general.” He let the datapad clatter to the floor rather than shattering it as he’d initially intended. “Dinner’s in the galley.”

“He will be more mindful,” Hux promised, standing up. He frowned slightly and then turned into the kitchen.

«Take off your mask.» The general ventured, loading up a plate full of the root hash Ren had made up.

For a moment, Kylo considered leaving it on, sitting at the other end of the table with an empty plate and a black mask staring Hux down while he ate. Then he realized that would be just the type of thing Hux would belittle him for. He unlatched the faceplate and pulled his helmet off, shaking his hair out of his eyes. He didn’t say anything as he filled his own plate then brought it to the table. He set the helmet down in the middle of the table with a loud, percussive sound before sitting.

Hux made a noise in the back of his throat but didn’t say anything, already starting to eat. He glanced up at Ren and then back at his plate.

«Will you pass me my datapad?»

“You’ll give yourself a headache if you keep it up,” Kylo Ren said sullenly, stabbing at his dinner.

«Didn’t you say that you’d enjoy that?» Hux snapped, glaring at Kylo.

Kylo Ren’s fist clenched on the table. Ah yes. He’d forgotten what it was like to be stuck in space with the man when he was being insufferable. «If I wanted to give you a headache, I’d have already done so.»

«So there are circumstances that make my pain more or less enjoyable?» Hux remained steady, didn’t wince or turn his head as he spoke.

«Obviously.» Kylo ate some of his food. It tasted bland to him, boring ingredients put together with no inspiration. «What is Joran Barril to you?» he asked after a few silent minutes.

Hux sighed, taking a drink of his water, sitting back. “I feel as if you’ve asked this question before.”

“Maybe I never get full answers from you.” Kylo pushed his plate away from himself. “I’m just eager to get to the fight here. Get this taken care of.”

“You’re just eager to fight,” Hux said, still eating. He glanced up at Ren again and then sat back, crossing his arms. “Joran Barril is an old friend, I’ve known him since I was a teenager. We were close...we were stationed together on board the _Deliverance_ for the better part of four years. We left to take our individual commands.”

Kylo knew there was more, but how could he press without sounding too jealous?

“Is that when you were involved?” He couldn’t stop himself asking, though he could have choked himself after the words were halfway out of his mouth. There was something in him that just needed to know, needed it more than air or food. Which was frustrating, but he thought that maybe once he knew, he could just move on and concentrate on the issue that he was truly there for.

Hux couldn’t say that he was surprised. Kylo had shown himself to be a jealous man before, and he didn’t know why he expected different. He rolled his eyes and pushed his hair back again.

“Yes, for a time.”

The confirmation was strangely satisfying and irritating at the same time. Kylo felt a surge of jealousy that he pushed down. There was no reason; the general didn’t belong to him, and even if he did, this relationship had been in the past. Maybe it was the lingering fondness he was more jealous off, the soft nostalgia that resolved itself into some sort of smile on Hux’s lips and easy jokes between him and the colonel. Kylo Ren felt like they’d had those too, and much more recently, but it was hard to be nostalgic for a time he weren’t the same person he was now.

“Will you send ground troops before the air attack? I need a timeline.” His fingers ran up and down the handle of his fork, and he didn’t raise his eyes to meet Hux’s.

«I can almost feel how jealous you are,» Hux snapped, glaring at Kylo. «I can’t change my past and I won’t apologize for it. I’ve never been around someone who cared so much about who I take to bed.»

Chin rising sharply, Kylo Ren took a deep breath and felt his lungs ignite. «Take whoever you want,» he replied harshly, taking no care with the fact that Hux’s mind was still delicate when they did this. He watched his face for the pain he knew he was inflicting, pulling a pressure into the room that would make Hux immediately uncomfortable, a pressure he’d feel at his eardrums and throat and temples. «But don’t flaunt it in my face.»

“You asked,” Hux hissed, glaring, the pressure building. “I’m hardly airing out dirty laundry. Whatever Joran and I had is in the past; I don’t know why such knowledge would engender so much pettiness.”

«I asked about your kriffing attack timeline,» Kylo growled into Hux’s head, refusing to speak aloud. He flattered his hand on the table top and the pressure continued to increase.

“You asked about my relationship with Joran Barril,” Hux was angry, annoyed by the sheer bullheadedness of the man in front of him. There was a dull ache, not entirely from speaking to Ren, from the Force he pulled down around him. “And now you’re acting like some kind of jilted lover. I don’t want to deal with your outbursts over something that shouldn’t matter to you.”

Kylo Ren stood up in a rush, releasing the pressure in the room. He wanted to drag Hux onto the table, he wanted to rip the stiff uniform off his back, he wanted to choke him until his lips were blue and he couldn’t say the name “Joran Barril.” He wanted to bite his lips until they bled, he wanted to force him up against the wall or onto his knees or over the back of the heavy chairs. Instead he stood with his hands in tight fists and stared at the other man, before grabbing his helmet from the table.

“Good night, general. Call me when you have a use for me.” He turned away, putting his helmet on as he walked toward the door.

“Fighting like this does nothing for either of us.” Hux barely raised his voice, arms still crossed. He shifted slightly, and aggravated the fresh bruise that rested over his collarbone. It was only hours ago that Ren clutched at him, had his mouth on him, knelt down before him. “Why are you so angry? What can you possibly gain from acting like this?”

“I didn’t expect to leave a place where I was being disrespected to come here and face the same thing. I just want to take care of this rebellion and get back to what I should be doing - concentrating on missions more suitable for the Knights of Ren.” He didn’t know what he and Hux were, where the lines of their relationship stood or disappeared or wavered or blurred.

“I apologized for my comment, Ren,” Hux said, exasperated. “I’m answering your questions, I’m not being dishonest. What do you want from me?”

Kylo stood with his head down for a minute, thinking. There were a hundred answers, and none of them could be said aloud.

“I don’t know.” He looked back at him, face hidden again. “I just want the timeline of this fight so we can get it over with.”

“We’re preparing for the invasions. Within the next rotation you and the Colonel will take troops and supplies from the Vindication to Koanna. I will head to Faolan. We will coordinate our attacks and hit both planets at the same time. You will have to deal with the Colonel to coordinate your ground movements.” As Hux spoke he stood up, walking around the table towards Ren. He took the fabric of Ren’s tunic in his hands, pulling him.

“When you’re on the planet you will show him the kind of man you are. Peerless,” Hux murmured softly, leading Ren. He let go of his tunic to sit on the couch, looking up at the Knight. «I remember the promises made. Treason and pain. What you thought you wanted.» Hux paused, his thoughts a roil with it all. Distraction and desire, need and power. «I have not wavered.»

Kylo’s jaw tightened and he stared at the general with hard eyes, though the helmet betrayed nothing.

«You gave me up to pain and…» He didn’t have the right word for it, the spiritual destruction. Though he couldn’t distinctly remember most of it, when glimmers of memory touched the edges of his consciousness, the howling of his soul made him shut it out again. «What exactly do you want now, general? Do not give me subtleties and garden whispers. Tell me exactly what you want. The man you made those promises to is dead.»

«You are not dead,» Hux said, glad that the pain of his headache was barely brushing against his temples. «I want you by my side as I advance the First Order in this universe. We could be more than a force. We would be unmatched. Nobody would disrespect you, beings would grovel before you. My Knight.»

Kylo Ren looked down at him, feeling as if he was fifty feet above him. They were old words, but what did they mean now? When Kylo had bucked the general’s command, he’d been quick to call in his superior, left him for Snoke to take care of. How could he owe fealty to that?

«Your Knight,» he repeated. «Already I can make worlds fall before me. What do you have left to offer me, general? I’ve surpassed everything even you thought I could accomplish.»

«Haven’t I been the man to warn others about you? Told all of them not to underestimate you, to learn from you. Didn’t I recognize your power even when it was kept hidden?» Hux asked calmly, not moving, looking up at Ren. «Everything Snoke does is to turn us against each other. I am the direction, the knowledge, and you are the power, the man who will clear the path forward.»

He took a deep breath, sending along feelings of satisfaction and rise. The impossibleness of each of them existing together. Without Ren, Hux would have to keep building slowly, finding cracks and exploiting them slowly. Without Hux, Ren would continue to be a Knight, tossed around on a sentient’s fancy.

«I’m giving you everything.»

“You gave me to him!” Kylo roared, leaning down to him.

“You betrayed me!” Hux snapped, standing up to match Ren, the couch sliding backwards. “You promised me worlds and left it all, you said you wanted what I did, over and over. You gave yourself to me, I had you-” he let his emotions show, felt himself grow red. “I had you, held you, we knew each other, we were so close when I inhaled, you exhaled. You took one look at what I had made and you ran the other way. You were going to betray me, betray the First Order. Everything you had said you wanted. We had fought for this, Ben, we had bled and fucked and suffered and been tortured together and you turned your back on all of it.”

Out of breath suddenly as though he’d been training for hours, Kylo Ren looked back at Hux as he let the other man’s rage and frustration pour over him in hot, heavy waves that drenched them both and left them gasping for air. They had been so close, but that thing, that _weapon_ , hadn’t seemed real, hadn’t seemed like something Arrik who’d read to his dying mother and who’d killed his bully of a father could condone. And now, what was he? Kylo Ren was a man who would look away and fight his single battles one by one on the ground while that thing destroyed whole systems.

Who was “Ben” anymore? Who did that name belong to, if not to a stupid, long-haired bored smuggler who’d died in the snow that day?

“I didn’t know you’d made...that.” Kylo exhaled shudderingly, drawing up the darkness as a comfort. He would do great things, he had done great things. Safe behind his black helmet and the dark side’s promises, he could do more.

“I have never pretended at less.” Hux growled, furious, finally letting go of the calm stillness he had embodied since Ben had run away. Since he had been given this soulless thing to mind. Snoke had destroyed the man and left an automaton, a wellspring of power and emotion with nothing left to be. “Whatever this is, whatever we are, if we’re anything at all, it is not above the First Order. Nothing is, not even the Supreme Leader. The directives of the Order are my first priority, even above my own ambitions.”

Kylo remembered the old holocron his uncle had opened in one of the ancient temples they’d uncovered. He didn’t even remember the planet, the system, how old he’d been. What he remembered were the words, the soft voice made harsh by history. His namesake, alive and sad and resolved. _The Order has fallen._ A completely different order. Another order he’d run away from.

“What is the First Order without a leader? Without a head, the animal is dead.How can you say the Supreme Leader…” He stopped himself. Words were dangerous. «How can you say what the First Order is without the Supreme Leader?»

«Did the Empire die with Palpatine? Did the Sith die with Exar Kun? Did Alderaan ever die?» Hux asked, frowning deeply. «The Order has learned from mistakes made, from battles lost and won. The Supreme Leader has other priorities, I have one.»

«Which is?» Kylo felt the death of each of the examples Hux had laid out. Each one had trickled down to them. Hux, the Empire’s bastard heir. Kylo Ren, what was left of his Sith grandfather and the princess who’d watched Alderaan destroyed.

«Maintaining order in the universe. Taming chaos. Providing tructure, standards, ideals. The First Order as the galactic force, answerable to the universe.» Hux swallowed, color high on his cheeks. «I have never hid my ambition, my intention. Not from you.»

«No. You just keep your cards close to your chest on everything else.» Kylo wanted to touch his hair, wanted to split his lip, wanted to make him laugh, wanted to crush his throat. «Fine. I’ll be your Knight.» He licked his dry lips and heard his rough inhalation in his helmet. «But I refuse to be held to any promises that were made by Ben Solo. I’ll make my decisions after the battle.»

“We do what we must,” Hux said, the pounding returning to his temples. He swallowed and shook his head, taking another step back and then heading into the galley. “You’re free to go, Lord Ren.”

“Am I?” Kylo Ren turned away as well, walking to the door and to the privacy of his own berth. He’d play Hux’s Knight if that’s what it took to clear this mess and get back to whatever his new life was. But he kept his loyalty to himself.

Once on the planet surface, it was as if the rivalry between the colonel and Kylo Ren had never happened. All that mattered was the fight, and Kylo remained silent during the colonel’s briefing with the stormtrooper captains who’d been assigned to the mission. He let them move forward, letting Barril command the firepower that was his main focus.

It was after the outer flanks of fighters had been eliminated that Kylo Ren went in to finish off the central rebels still holding out at the center of the city they’d been pushed back into. Much of the city’s east side had been destroyed by the superior First Order firepower, and there was the crackle of fire and the wailing screams that Kylo Ren had come to associate with First Order occupation. Hux spoke of establishing order amidst the chaos of the galaxy. Ren didn’t see that whenever he was involved in their operations. These were the circumstances of his placement within the Order. He was the final howling storm, the supreme chaos that burned out the rest.

His lightsaber’s downstroke was like a crimson banner. One rebel tried to stand up to him with an electrostaff, an old relic of pre-Empire days. It looked less stable than his own temperamental weapon. Koanna wasn’t a warrior planet, though they’d set themselves up as conquerors.

Colonel Barril had attacked another section of the planet’s infrastructure. He hung back, directing the front lines, and watched as the Stormtroopers marched forwards with tanks and cannons and firepower that the Kan simply could not match.

Ruthless might not be the right word to describe Joran Barril, but methodical would be. Every eventuality, every push, exactly calculated. It wasn’t particularly innovative or vicious, but Barril left nothing to chance. He received short, occasional updates from the legion leaders and commanding officers on the other side of the continent, many of which praised the Lord Ren’s prowess and leadership. He didn’t quite want to believe it, but and he knew that after the battles were over he would be reviewing the vids of the battles.

In the aftermath of his victory, he realized he was slightly annoyed by the way that Kylo Ren seemed to take all of Arrik’s attention. It wasn’t surprising, Arrik always had a particular penchant for ever bigger, stronger things. The man had an attraction to power, and Joran couldn’t blame him, understood that desire. There was a reason he followed Arrik even as children, even as young officers.

After he received note that Kylo Ren had effectively taken over the Service Center and there was only rubble where the Resource Hub had been, Joran Barril made his move into the Capitol. The Kan didn’t need more pushing, and they gave up easily, signing away space rights in return for partial control of the restructured government. It was a resounding victory, and Joran sat at the seat of the Chief Representative and smiled, already setting up his station, assigning troopers and officers as permanent installations on Koanna.

He sent a missive to the leaders, the officers, legionnaires and, almost resentfully, to Kylo Ren, notifying them of the victory. It had almost been easy, well planned, immediate. He sent a non-urgent message to the Vindication.

Across the system, General Arrik Hux was on the bridge, maneuvering the fleets of TIE fighters against the less advanced ships of the Faoling. There were a few different ships in use, but the most common were dual-engine, with a pilot and two gunners, designed for protecting fleets and shipments. They were ships of a militia or a police force, not the armament or the kind of ships required of a military armada.

Hux smiled, watching the TIE starfighters overwhelm the Faolings, wave after wave of ships falling to the superior pilots and faster TIEs. The difficult astral objects caused a little bit of an issue, but Hux had the foresight and the knowledge to create defenses and lure the Etemi-class Continuum ships out into the open space before attacking squadrons.

It wasn’t easy, exactly, but it seemed as if all the slots fit into place naturally, as if all the pilots on the _Vindication_ were perfectly attuned to the battle. Most of that was because of General Hux, his precise decisions, his ability to analyze a battlefield and create tactics and strategies in an instant, in the middle of a battle, with a multitude of factors shifting immediately and without warning.

The ships retreated and the _Vindication_ moved forward. Hux expected some notification from the main capital of Faolan, but there was none forthcoming. Fine.

Hux deployed bombers, flanked by starfighters, and they went down, releasing High-Altitude Low-Orbit missiles that were aimed towards the capital of Tithon. 

He received the report minutes later. Shields. They weren’t strong enough to prevent the missiles from entering the atmosphere, but enough to protect the city. Hux sent recon ships down, scanning for energy fields. Seven total surrounding Tithon. He ordered a barrage of the HALO missiles on three of the shields, and then took a step away from the bridge, heading into the office that would be just off the main bridge. He needed to send a message to Kylo Ren.

From his spot to Barril’s left, Kylo Ren looked down at his wrist comm. Without excusing himself, he stepped out of the main room into one of the empty side hallways. He brought up the small holo of Hux.

“Yes, general?” he said through the helmet’s vocoder. His black helmet and clothes were coated in grey dust that muted his monochromatic sharpness.

Hux stood in front of the holo projector, looking up at the battle-worn figure of Kylo Ren. He nodded once, relieved by Ren’s brusque attitude.

“I need you back on the _Vindication_. Immediately. Secure Koanna and take a shuttle,” Hux ordered, hands behind his back. “Bring back two legions and ground machinery.”

“Send your coordinates to JG-9870. Expect us in 90 minutes.” Kylo Ren nodded and ended the transmission. He didn’t need to wait to be dismissed.

Hux shook his head. He had just appreciated Ren’s bluntness, he could hardly be such a hypocrite as to be annoyed by it now. He went back to the bridge, sending directives to his own shuttle, the remaining troops on the _Vindication_. He was preparing for a ground invasion, already getting his starfighters down to the landing area, clearing the way into Tithon.

He met Ren at the hangar, his legions already dispatched and waiting in the space underneath the Star Destroyer. He was wearing a uniform not unlike his usual commander’s uniform, but sleeker, with dark micro-kevlar armor sewn into patches along his legs and chest. He had full armor along his his arms and shoulders, and two guns on either hip. There was enough of his uniform in the cut of the jacket, the stripes along his sleeves.

He looked more like a soldier than an officer, but there was no mistaking his hair or the set of his shoulders as he stepped onto the ramp of the _Javelin_ before it had even finished lowering.

“We’re leaving!” Hux ordered as he strode up the ramp. He saw Ren and nodded once, turning towards the cockpit. He had sent the landing coordinates to the computer as soon as it was in range. ”Wings up, now!”

The _Javelin_ quickly maneuvered out of the hangar, and the legions from Koanna were there. Total, Hux had amassed an invading force of four legions of troopers. TIE fighters monitored their descent, continuing to chase and destroy any of the Continuum fighters that popped up behind moons and asteroids

Hux looked over the cockpit only for a few minutes before he turned and went back into the Javelin, heading towards the lounge. He opened the doors, looking over the Knight who sat there, and then went to the holo wall, pulling up the image of Tithon.

“We are going to invade the capital,” Hux said, taking a step back and pulling Tithon along with him. He turned to Ren, face made of stone. “You are going to help me.”

“Then I expect the capital will be flying the First Order flag within the next few hours,” Kylo Ren said as he stood up. The dust of his last battle was still ground into the weave of his clothes, brushed along the lines of his greaves and bracers. He had no concerns with adding another planet’s defeated earth to it, nor the rebels’ blood to the dried invisible stains that were already there.

Hux looked over at Ren and nodded, his hands on the back of the nearby chair. He took a deep breath, looking back over Tithon.

“I expect it will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Come say hi!](tigernoir.tumblr.com)! Thanks for reading everyone.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> chapter 4, also known as the chapter where joran barril makes some very bad decisions.

They landed on Faolan amid the invading force of nearly five thousand. It was a small army, but it would be enough. The HALOs had barraged the three shields near the capitol of Tithon, and had moved to the four further away. They were still echoes of the missiles falling on those far cities as General Hux and the Lord Ren exited the _Javelin_.

Hux took a deep breath, glancing around just once before heading towards the middle of his legions, unmistakable. He tapped his comm, addressing the entire army on the ground.

“Tanks to the front, those shield generators are weak. We will pass right through and invade Tithon. Subdue and shoot, treat all non-compliant sentients as enemy combatants. Follow your legion commanders, officers will receive expanded orders. Move out.”

Without any more pomp the entire parade shifted, the requested tanks and tech going quickly to the front of the line. They were only a few kliks away from the shield, and overhead, the TIEs continued the bombardment on the city, making sure than any native ground militia was cowering.

General Hux looked over at Ren before marching forward, line in line with his stromtroopers and officers, not waiting behind to wait for the troopers to do his dirty work and come in later. He was not some absent conqueror or final wave. He would be there to see Tithon fall, he would be the one to break it apart, he would kill the resistance himself, with his own hands, by his own orders, by his own weapon.

Kylo Ren watched him, then caught up with a few easy strides. His lightsaber was still clipped to his belt. He didn’t touch the general, but he walked close enough to him for the other man to really feel that he was right there.

«You should remain with the ship, general,» he said quietly into his head.

«Concerned, Ren?» Hux asked, not looking at Kylo, marching forward.

«Well, morale will likely drop exponentially should the First Order general bleed out on the field.» He slid his eyes over to watch Hux’s profile; he was pale, but no paler than usual, and his set jaw didn’t indicate anything more than determination. He had seen the general nervous before. The man certainly wasn’t now. «How much actual field experience do you have?»

Hux growled in the back of his throat, accompanied by the screams of the TIEs overhead, the constant churn of the tanks, the sound of five thousand feet rising behind and around him.

«Enough,» he said, watching the cityscape of Tithon rise up behind the shimmering blue shield as it flickered, weakened. It would stop energy beams but it would not stop him. Already they passed through infrastructure, civilian vehicles smouldering on the edge of the ground roads.

«I believe I have seen more battles than you, Lord Ren,» Hux said, his voice soft but firm. «And if you find my abilities lacking, I would hope you’d think to make up the difference yourself.»

Behind his faceplate, Kylo Ren rolled his eyes so hard they were mostly white. He hated the thoughts that had immediately come into his head, the feeling that had just suffused his body from nowhere.

He had to protect this asshole. He couldn’t let anything happen to him. Any injury visited on Arrik Hux should only come from his hand. He’d tear apart anyone else who dared take that liberty.

“Just try not to get yourself killed,” he muttered aloud, voice distorted by the helmet and the rising sound around them.

“A concern always at the forefront of my mind,” Hux said, tilting his head up.

The march continued, and the defending Faoling militia crumbled easily. Most of their resources were concentrated in their armada, and that, being destroyed, left them nearly defenseless on the ground. A few final stands popped up, but they were nothing compared to the trooper army that marched on Tithon. These were citizen militias, brigandes brought together with immediacy and little planning. They crumbled under the training and absolute structure of the First Order.

The first legion passed through the weak shields without any resistance, then split up, going to the ends of the city. General Hux and Kylo Ren took the third legion, heading towards the center and the the seat of the government, an intricate system of representatives and landowners from the countries around the world.

Hux glanced at Ren as the legions began to spread out, the third following them through the streets.

«Are you seeing something I don’t?»

«They’ve sent the bulk of their fighting force to the sides. What’s waiting for us in the center?» He knew it was what Hux was thinking as well; he could feel it in the connection between them. «This should be a more heavily guarded area.»

He stepped forward, lightsaber suddenly in his hand and ignited, and the three Faolings who’d run out from behind a makeshift half-barricade were dead in the street.

Hux’s gun was up, but he was too late, and Ren had already taken care of the the ragtag police force that intended to stop them. Hux glanced around, glad that they still had a good two hundred troopers around them, and another hundred in front, heading right for the large series of government buildings.

There was some thought of a trap that passed between Kylo Ren and General Hux, but Arrik pushed it away.

«Not enough time, why waste it trying to set a trap for an invading ground force? They’ve evacuated the citizens, protecting their people. They know they’ve lost.»

«Maybe that knew that there was no way to beat an invading force through sheer numbers, but through the act of taking out the head.» Kylo Ren realized he didn’t know how often Hux led troops like this, or how often Barril did, since this was usually under his jurisdiction. Was the colonel known for accompanying his ground troops? It was unorthodox, though not unheard of, and if that was the case, the Faolings would be expecting the same sort of leadership during the siege of their own planet.

«They wouldn’t know,» Hux responded quickly, knowing without knowing how. «Unusual, and they are an isolated species.»

«Isolated, but how careful in terms of research? They knew you’d be coming.»

«They knew the First Order was coming,» Hux responded, frowning, looking around. «Not that I would be here.»

They were headed towards the center of the city, and the larger buildings started to get lower, closer to the ground. These buildings were older and smaller, more spread out. There was more green sneaking in between the elegant buildings that seemed old and abandoned, even though there were lights still on, vehicles humming on the pads on the rooftops. The large, sprawling capitol building had spires and a rigid structure, made of dark colors and not metallic. Greens and dark browns, painted over with bright yellow that almost seemed to be gold and inlaid with a white marble.

Hux walked past it all, the troopers to his left ignoring the civilian homes, marching towards the government building.

Kylo Ren kept his lightsaber in his hand as they moved through the heart of the city. He distrusted it the way he felt it distrusting him. He gestured for the storm troopers to hang to the walls, letting them destroy the detritus that clogged some of the crossroad areas as they moved through. He himself took point, annoyed beyond belief that Hux kept himself so close to him, as though he would be in any way ready to take on a fight that erupted in the street here.

Gritting his teeth behind his helmet, he motioned with an impatient hand for Hux to fall back a bit.

Hux glared at Kylo but did as he asked, taking another step and then stopping, looking around the area. It was residential, domestic, by any standards, what in all the stars did Ren think was going to happen?

He hoped his annoyance travelled along their link, because he didn’t see any danger around them at all.

«What is it?»

«Why do you always go to the kriffing front when you have no defensive weapons?» Kylo Ren hissed back at him.

«I have body armor, literally thousands of troopers at my beck and call, this city has been bombed for the past hour, the entire planet has been under attack a good deal longer,» Hux snapped, his hand over his gun. «I’m hardly at the front.»

«You’re right, that’s definitely ample protection. That’s an excellent reason the kriffing general should just stroll down the streets toward the untaken enemy capitol building. Brilliant.» Kylo Ren made sure that the sarcasm was dripping from his voice.

«Your concern is touching, Lord Ren,» Hux said, walking again through the streets. «The only reason that building is untaken is because I am not inside of it.»

Before Kylo could make his withering reply, the street erupted in blasterfire. Though the buildings weren’t as tall as the ones on the outer areas of the city, they were easy enough to hide shooters. The Knight deflected shots back up to the roofs, taking out rebels as he did while the rest of the legion moved ahead to try to take out the shooter above them.

Hux took a few steps back, looking around, gun drawn. His body armor would protect against light laser blasts, but it didn’t make him invincible. Hux moved closer to Ren, lifting his gun and shooting at one of the Faolings on the roof of a nearby home. He glared, holding up his commlink and ordering tanks to the center of the square, immediately.

Instinctively, Kylo Ren knew they were too slow; they were well trained, but rooftop snipers had an advantage they simply did not: the high ground. They also knew the city center in a way their own study of the map couldn’t have given them in that short of a time frame. He swore under his breath as he deflected another bolt.

“Would you get back already!?” he roared as Hux moved ahead with a group of stormtroopers.

Next to him, Hux was shooting at the snipers, and his aim was just as sure as it ever was. Still, there were too many of them, too well hidden, and he knew, just as Ren did, that the enemy militia had the advantage. Not for long, they would soon be overwhelmed by numbers. Hux was analytic, separated. He still didn’t see the danger as affecting him.

“We move forward!” Hux yelled back, crouched behind a downed vehicle, shooting over the hood of the ship.

Kylo assumed that the general had already called for backup; he was too much the tactician to see this as a tenable victory in the street. However, it would take time for them to get there, and that was time they didn’t have. He wasn’t worried for himself, but the troopers were already falling in large numbers and there was no good cover. He glared over at Hux, but knew that he was the one commanding the mission; even if he himself decided not to obey orders that didn’t really apply to him, it wouldn’t stop the idiot from getting himself killed. The Knight growled and shook his head once.

“Then keep your damned head down before someone shoots it off,” he shouted back across the street, turning to cut down two rebels who’d come with a group out of an alley in front of them.

«We have backup! Five minutes, and we storm the capitol.» Hux responded, his mind already going in several different directions, analyzing the situation from multiple angles. He didn’t send these thoughts along intentionally, but he was sure Ren knew what he was already sure of. They had the odds in their favor, even if it seemed like they were being overwhelmed right now.

It was too noisy, the strategy from Hux’s mind, the gunfire around them. Kylo put his mental defenses up tightly, focusing himself on the fight in the moment. He pushed forward, keeping an eye on Hux as their group attempted to make some progress. He got out from behind the vehicle and continued to fight through the central buildings.

There was a double balcony overhanging the street ahead of them, an open walkway that bridged the street and joined two buildings together. He didn’t need the Force to know it was the perfect vantage point for the rebels to position themselves and wipe them all out. For now, it was still, seemingly empty. Kylo walked behind Hux, trying not to let the man get too far ahead of him.

When the first group of troopers was just below the bridge, Kylo felt the movement from it, the sudden feeling that was like a deep inhalation through the Force. The general had put himself into perfect position as a target. It was a split second decision, knowing he could neither reach Hux in time nor deflect all the bolts from however many rebels had stationed themselves above them.

Stepping back with his right foot, Kylo raised his right hand. There was no time for style; his open hand clenched shut and yanked at the air as though pulling a long curtain down past his side. The bridge over the street crumbled and collapsed, killing both the rebels as they fell and the stormtroopers who were caught underneath.

Hux turned as the bridge crumbled, raising his hand over his face, taking a few steps back. He gasped for air, coughing as the dust rose. He knew, immediately and without asking that Ren had protected him. He looked, saw the troopers and the rebels lying together under the wreckage. The general’s eyes were wide, his face pale as he glanced back towards Kylo Ren, breathing hard.

“Keep going!” The General yelled to the other troops. They rallied behind him as he moved through the central area.

He refused to be intimidated or stopped, and he continued over the the obstruction, walking directly towards the capitol building.

Kylo Ren took a deep breath in the strange stillness after the masonry had settled. He caught up to Hux, making sure to keep up beside him. This idiot was going to take the capitol, but he was going to end up a martyr in a history text if he didn’t watch out.

“Are you going to wait for reinforcements, or are we going in ourselves?” he growled through his vocoder.

“They will arrive when I do, or they will be late,” Hux hissed, shooting another rebel who stood up from out of an alley, the Faoling’s weapon clattering to the ground. He turned and shot over Ren’s shoulder, sending another two rebels to some kind of hell.

Kylo had just shifted to face the rebels behind him and he pressed his mouth when Hux shot them first.

«If we’re keeping count, you’re still ahead of me,» Hux almost sneered, continuing to move through the buildings. They were at the large garden in front of the capitol building, statues and fountains shaking under the bombardment of tanks nearby.

Kylo Ren didn’t respond for a moment, sweeping his hand to the side in front of him. One of the large stone statues flew sideways, taking out several rebels who had stepped out of the doorway to face them. The men never had time to scream and they were crushed on the far side of the lawn.

«Well, there are a few more for me,» he replied.

«Keep going. I expect triple digits,» Hux said, smirking into Ren’s mind as he continued up the steps. He shot a pair of guards that came out of the building, and paused as a tank came from the side of the garden, rolling over the statue that Ren had dislodged. Hux looked back to Ren, satisfied as the troops began to pour out from the surrounding urban area on their left.

Hux took a deep breath, felt it, knew it, and shot the doors of the capitol building open for the storm troopers to swarm inside. He took another breath and then went in after them, the conquering general.

Kylo Ren looked around a moment longer, feeling the turning tide in the city. It had fallen, and the bright, sharp lights of the angry rebels were going out one by one, and he could feel it all. Given the choice, he would have stalked back out into the debris-riddled streets to help the stormtroopers finish off the remnants of whatever resistance to First Order rule remained.

But he turned and followed his general into the capitol, past the tall doors that were pressed back by white-armored arms. He heard shouted orders from the galleries to his right and left, and slowly walked up the central staircase to find wherever Hux had gone to establish his final control.

It didn’t take long, no longer than an hour, and General Hux had the five members of the ruling high sentate kneeling in front of the chancellor’s chair, begging for surrender. The treaty was passed by executive order, and he marked the terms with the official seal of the first order, uploading the surrender directly to the first order.

At the end of the day, Hux had gone nearly sixteen hours directing a multi-vector spacial and ground attack while outnumbered, bombarded ten major cities into submission and had the executive leaders praying for mercy. Eating out of the palm of his hand. He had done this. He had. Directed, engineered, masterminded the overturn of an entire system from the ground invasion to drafting the final trade agreements.

It was a complete victory.

He made his way to the head executive’s suite, lounging in the main room. It was opulent, draped in greens and gold, and Hux imagined that this was something that the ruling family of Arkanis would have had.

Kylo Ren knocked on the open door before walking in, his slight consideration. He looked around the room, taking in the details of the fine fabrics the Faolings were known for (though he wouldn’t even know that until later) then glanced over at the general on the sofa. The mood in the room wasn’t smug; Hux obviously wasn’t ignorant of the cost of these battles. The feelings coming from him were glowing with the same fervor with which Hux spoke of the First Order. Something like destiny.

“The remaining rebel leaders have been disposed of, after they gave up the locations of the last holdouts,” he said without preamble. He was still dirty from the fight, but wasn’t in a rush to clean up. It was hard to let the battle be over, really.

Hux stood, keeping a hand on the arm of the couch. He still hadn’t managed to find an adequate drug that would allow him to stay awake without fatigue for longer than eighteen hours. He swallowed and nodded.

“Very good,” Hux said quietly, looking over Kylo Ren carefully. The day had been just as long for the knight. “I think with that, it’s time for us to return to the _Vindication_. Joran has sent word that the Kan have surrendered completely.”

“The system is your’s to control, general.” Through his vocoder, his voice could have held any emotion. He could have been disgusted or impressed, tired or strong. His steps had been as heavy as always; his arms hung down by his sides in loose readiness. He was relaxed, but only inasmuch as he trusted in the Force to alert him to any potential dangers before they’d arisen.

Hux nodded, running his hand over his eyes. He took a deep breath and gestured.

“Good. They’ll stay under the auspices of the Colonel. If he can’t make regular shipments on time now, there’s no one else he can blame.”

He walked around the couch to Kylo Ren, standing only a few feet away from him. Hux didn’t say anything for a minute or so, didn’t even try to reach into his mind or speak directly to him. It was a still moment, even the open windows not letting in any air. There were some quiet chimes outside and Hux turned, staring out the window.

He blinked, shaking his head and he snapped out of the small trance.

“Let’s leave,” he said, walking past Ren. “There’s nothing more here.”

“You don’t wish to rest before we head back? As soon as we arrive on the _Vindication_ , you’ll be expected to debrief.” It wasn’t quite concern that colored Kylo’s voice, at least, he didn’t intend it to come through. His hands tightened into fists, then relaxed again.

“Expected, but I will delay it. An abbreviated report will be sufficient.” Hux took a deep breath, turning back to Ren, his hand on one of the pale columns that supported the building, made of some material in between terra cotta and porcelain, a pale umber color.

It was unclear if Hux had put his gloved hand against the column for his own support or just to do something with his hand. “Then you should come with me. While there are troopers stationed throughout the city, there are still pockets of rebellion.”

Hux frowned but nodded. “That would send a good image.” He held his hand towards the door.

“You first.”

Kylo Ren nodded, fist clenching before returning to its ready position by his side. He didn’t feel any danger within the building, but the time awake had made him jumpier than he normally felt and he was glad to be walking out into the corridor first. He ignored the stormtroopers stationed by the door, his boots loud on the tiled floor.

Hux took a deep, steadying breath, and followed Ren out of the room. He was a half step behind the man as they walked through the palace, but it wasn’t as if he was being lead, it was as if Ren was his escort, his man, the Knight protecting the next someone up.

Hux couldn’t say he minded. It was easier for him to trust Ren, to allow himself to just focus on walking forward, getting to the _Javelin_ , heading back to the _Vindication_. He was exhausted, bone-deep exhausted, and he knew, felt, that Ren was tired too.

«We’ll have our rest in a few hours. You earned it.»

«As did you, general.» Kylo Ren wouldn’t admit how bone tired he knew he’d be. He didn’t feel it yet, but it was pressing up from his extremities. He wasn’t sure how Hux was managing, though if he let himself, he could feel how badly the other man just wanted to be back in a quiet place.

«This was one of the longer days,» Hux responded, and let Ren see the places he wanted, the darkness of his berth on the Finalizer with only space around him. A corner of his private library when the entire weapon was silent, the refresher with the lights off and the hot water turned up, the timer bypassed. He swallowed and suddenly retreated inside his mind as he walked, having accidentally shown too much, a place too private for even Kylo Ren.

The Knight didn’t press to see more, though he could have, especially now when Hux was tired and his walls would be weak. But he didn’t want to see it again, the places Hux saw as safe, the silence he found restful. He realized he didn’t really have a place like that. He had sleep and he had training. Those were the only times he didn’t feel the residual pull against his soul.

«You’ll be able to sleep in the shuttle,”» Kylo said mildly. It was almost kind, the way he said it.

«I’ll take that time to prepare the report. You will be excused from address as well, I’ll include your role in my own brief.» Hux’s posture was stern, his boots echoing in the lush capitol. None of Hux belied the fact that he would have destroyed the entire system for just an hour in bed.

Kylo Ren felt a surge of something when Hux said that he’d include his own part in the battle in his report, then realized belatedly that it didn’t matter. He didn’t want to worry about reports; it was no insult that he wouldn’t be writing his own. There would be no point in Hux’s hiding anything, and just the fact that he was here and the city was conquered was enough.

«Or you could just sleep.» Speaking like this was easy for him, even with the more careful mental defences that he maintained now. Tired as he was, it was much easier than speaking aloud, much easier to hear his voice like this rather than the mechanized voice he still wasn’t used to hearing.

«You keep saying sleep as if it is a priority.» Hux said. He was walking close to Ren, barely a foot behind him, walking in step with the Knight.

«Because I hate the thought of having to pick you up from the floor,» Kylo said dryly. «How many stim pills have you taken?»

«I would think that you would enjoy carrying me around like a sack of parsnips,» Hux murmured. «Five.»

«Five?» Kylo made a sound aloud that was half disgust and half a laugh. «When you crash, you’ll go down like a tagged TIE.»

Hux smiled, sending across something like appreciation and amusement. «All the more reason to write the reports now while I can still spell my own name.»

«Will you take another for that?» He couldn’t stop the concern from seeping into his voice.

«Ren,» it held something of a warning. «I’m fine.»

They stepped outside and Hux took a second to look up, noting the strange ways that the asteroids above the planet reflected the light from the set sun. He swallowed and then descended the steps of the capitol building, happy to see the _Javelin_ had descended into the garden, ramp down.

Kylo didn’t say anything else as they walked through the evening toward the shuttle. The city was finally quiet and still, settling after the day. There were still rebel bodies lying in the streets, but he noticed that the white-armored bodies of the downed stormtroopers had been cleared.

Hux didn’t even notice the damage around them, keeping focused on the _Javelin_. A nearly unforgivable lapse, otherwise he would have noticed movement to his right, a set of two Faoling noblemen, not even dressed as militiamen, jumped out from behind a downed hover-ad, shooting directly at the General.

Faster than he had in the shooting range, Kylo Ren’s lightsaber was in his hand. The blade was jagged and red as he spun it, moving too quickly to be easily followed. The bolts the rebels had aimed at Hux were deflected back, one of them striking and killing the Faoling who’d shot it. The other bolt struck the capitol building.

Swinging the lightsaber back against his right side to give himself the momentum to turn, the Knight shifted his position and set his stance as his left hand came up with his fingers already curved slightly. He used the Force to drag the stunned nobleman toward them, knowing the man had already dropped his weapon.

Hux had flinched but he didn’t duck or turn away, instead, he shifted a little bit, watching Ren’s dark form, feeling the way that his power snapped in the air as the man was yanked through the air. Hux’s eyes narrowed and he stepped forward, staring at the Faoling.

“That was a mistake,” he murmured, just next to Ren, almost shoulder to shoulder.

“You don’t belong in our system,” the man said through gritted teeth, held in place by means he didn’t understand. Kylo Ren didn’t move, and the rebel tried to avoid looking at him. “Others will rise up in my place.”

Without seeming to move at all, Kylo Ren forced the man to his knees. The rebel grunted as the air was pushed out of his lungs. The reflective eyeshade of the helmet turned away from the rebel and toward Hux, asking a silent, wordless question.

“None will rise,” Hux said quietly, turning his hand slightly, pressing the back of his knuckles against Ren. “Because there will be none left.”

He turned then, walking towards the _Javelin_.

“This system does not belong to you anymore!” Hux called over his shoulder, venom in his voice. He responded to Ren directly, already ducking into the safety of the shuttle.

«Finish him.»

Kylo Ren turned back to the man on the ground, feeling his spike of anger and then of fear. He knew he didn’t need to speak, but he did know that there were others watching. Waiting. Listening.

The lightsaber hummed in his hand and it fought against his hand with its natural energy with more power than it took to execute the man kneeling before him. Before the body had hit the ground, he’d already turned to join the general on the shuttle.

Hux had retired immediately to the lounge, not sitting on the stiff-backed couch, but instead at the desk, already quickly writing the brief report of the invasion. It wouldn’t stand as a full accounting, but it would measure up until he had enough rest.

He didn’t even look up as Kylo Ren entered the shuttle, and he could feel him rather than see him or hear him. Hux swallowed as Ren came into the lounge, his eyes flicking over to the Knight before turning again to the screen.

«You’ve done well.»

«Have I?» Kylo Ren slowly opened his hand by his side, feeling the stretch in his fingers. He walked over to the sofa, then stood beside it. Only someone who knew him as well as Hux did would know that it was a strange hesitance keeping him on his feet.

«I believe so,» Hux murmured, still typing the report furiously. His shoulders were low, sloped, tired. «This whole trip. You’ve done well. Performed.»

The word irked and Kylo Ren felt the muscles near his shoulder blades tighten. _Perform_.

«I’m sure your report will reflect my excellent performance.» He sat down then, tired and feeling it.

«To the utmost, Ren.» Hux’s voice continued to be soft, gentle. He was exhausted, bone-tired, sleep-heavy, deprived, and it made him into a man with fewer visible edges, as if he had been smudged around his corners.

A pit viper, coiled on a rock. At ease until suddenly, violently not.

Kylo Ren wanted nothing more than he take his helmet off, to take his gloves off. To stand in the refresher for too long, to clean the righteous battle off him. His mind played the moments of the fight back to him, out of order, missing the impressions of certain senses. The bridge collapsing on the stormtroopers to preserve Hux’s life, but without the sound. Cutting three rebels down at once, but not remembering how it felt through the muscles in his hand and arm.

“That’ll wait,” he said quietly, but his voice rumbled louder than he’d meant it to when it traveled through his vocoder.

«Your report?» he said, and even as he sent the thought along he mouthed the last syllable, blinked, almost formed the toothy end to the last consonant. He took a deep breath. Stars, he was tired. This campaign had worn away at his very bones.

“What will it wait for, Ren?” Hux asked aloud, voice far softer than the noise that came out of Ren’s helmet.

“The next cycle. The rotation after that. A post-sleep shift.” Kylo let his shoulders sink slightly, but otherwise he stayed exactly where he was. There was something else he should be saying, but he didn’t know what it was.

Hux hummed but didn’t respond, letting the moment pass. He blinked, realized that the screen had gone blurry, and then pushed himself away from the desk. The general took a deep breath, pressing his hands over his eyes for a few seconds. It was good enough.

“For the best,” Hux murmured, taking a deep breath and running his hands through his hair. He shifted, decided against standing, and leaned back in his chair.

“We’ll be in our beds soon enough.”

“Will you actually go to yours?” the Knight asked, and even he wasn’t sure what he meant. Was he questioning whether Hux would let himself find the sleep he so desperately needed, or was he thinking of the bed of a man who was also celebrating his victory?

“If I make it there without passing out,” Hux muttered, taking a deep breath and tilting his head up to the ceiling. He was too tired to feel out the jealousy and unspoken question Ren asked. He closed his eyes, a very different picture than the commanding officer of less than an hour ago.

“I’ll carry you,” Kylo replied and the teasing in his voice made it through this time.

Hux turned and shot Kylo a look that clearly read ‘I’d rather die’.

“You’ve carried me plenty, this time you should just leave me passed out wherever I fall.”

“There’d be a certain pleasure in that as well,” Kylo said with wry honesty. He stood up slowly, pushing against his thighs with his hands to give himself the extra momentum he needed. His muscles all protested the movement, and all he could think of was falling into his own bed, though he knew he should stretch and meditate before he allowed himself to rest.

Hux turned his head slightly, blinking and looking over the figure of Kylo Ren. He realized that he didn’t really know if he was looking at Kylo Ren or not, if he was looking at his image or the man that held it.

He swallowed and closed his eyes again.There were still too many uppers in his system that wouldn’t allow his mind to fall asleep, but his body had nearly given out.

There was a buzz from his pad, and then a beep, and Hux shook himself slightly, turning to press a button. A small voice came through.

 _“We will be on board the_ Vindication _within fifteen minutes. Colonel Joran_ Barril _has requested your presence on the bridge before you retire.”_

Hux frowned and leaned forward, pressing the a button to reply.

“There are two of us here, Major, you’ll have to be more specific,” he said, allowing the annoyance to punctuate his voice.

 _“He has asked for both you and_ the Lord _Ren, sir,”_ the pilot responded, obviously cowed by Hux’s response. _“Thirteen minutes until we enter the docking bay.”_

Hux took a deep breath, leaning back again and looking over at Ren, pressing his mouth.

“Deferred, once again.”

Kylo sat down on the sofa, not bothering to answer. As though there was no other way to end the day but facing off with the colonel. He closed his eyes behind his helmet, knowing the general wouldn’t be able to tell as long as his chin didn’t drop onto his chest.

“Thirteen minutes it is.”

Right on schedule, as if anyone dared be anything else, the _Javelin_ landed on the _Vindication_. Hux felt awful, everything dragging at him. He was in no state to meet with the Colonel, frankly, he was in no state to deal with anything but possibly changing into bed clothes. Even that might be a stretch.

He didn’t say anything as he disembarked, heading right to the lift that would take him and the Knight directly to the bridge. Hux took a deep breath, brushing down his jacket and adjusting his collar. He glanced over at Ren, tilting his head up.

«I will find a way to dismiss you quickly if you’d like.»

Kylo Ren’s movements gave no indication that he was as exhausted as he was; each step was long and his arms swung by his sides as though he’d grab his lightsaber from his belt at a moment’s notice. Unlike the general, he didn’t bother trying to fix his appearance. The colonel could see the battle on him, could smell the sweat and blood and dirt and fire embedded in the fibers of his dark clothing.

«I’ll stay until you dismiss both of us.» Hux was the highest ranking officer on board, and while it didn’t usually matter to Kylo, he let it matter now.

Hux hummed, pleased and too tired to crow over the homage. Small battles. The general took a deep breath as the lift slowed and the doors opened. He walked through, heading directly to the bridge that was an exact copy of the command on the Finalizer.

He turned, heading down the walkway, when Colonel Barril turned away from the main console to meet them. The Colonel’s face was split in a grin, and he raised his arms, a gesture of fraternity and victory.

“You fought some battle, huh?” He was still grinning wolfishly as he strode towards them, draping an arm around General Hux’s shoulders and turning him around. They were headed towards the large office at the end of the bridge. “I gotta say, Rikki, you never cease to amaze me,” Barril muttered as they passed Kylo Ren, keeping his voice low, out of earshot of the crew.

“I watched some of the vids already, your report is lacking-” he continued talking, even as the doors to the office opened and he attempted to pull the general into the room. Hux had planted his feet and Joran’s arm slipped from his shoulder, his hand how resting on just his upper arm.

“I’m afraid the reports will have to wait, Joran,” Hux said quietly, “Lord Ren and I have fought hard today, I believe the interim report will do for now.”

Kylo hadn’t moved from the center of the walkway, fists tight by his side as Barril touched him spoke to _him_ , called _him_ that.

_Rikki._

It tasted sour in his throat as his lips silently formed the word behind the screen of his helmet. It was only Hux’s refusal to go along with the colonel that kept the Knight quiet and still; he shivered with contained violence.

Joran opened his mouth to protest, and the younger officer raised a hand, shaking his head.

“I am nearly dead on my feet. My Knight fought on two different planets and three different war fronts. I will debrief you when I am rested.” HIs voice was firm, keeping the steel that he had become so well known for across the entire Order and beyond. It was the same tone he used in some of the prop vids. The voice he used as if he were speaking to a friend.

“You’ll spare no details then?” Joran asked, saluting, pulling his hand back from Arrik’s arm.

“None whatsoever,” Hux assured him, saluting as well and taking a step back.

Barril chuckled and nodded. “Get yourself to bed then, Rik. Let me know if you need anything.”

Hux nodded, and it was something of a bow. “Of course.” He raised a hand and turned away, glancing over at Ren and gesturing.

«Dismissed, Lord Ren.»

Kylo nodded once in response to the unspoken order, then turned sharply to walk away from the officers. His long black coat flared behind him as he walked away, but the effect was unintentional; he was too tired to think about how he presented himself, and he was better presented for it.

Hux followed only a step behind, pleased that the officers on board the _Vindication_ kept their eyes on Ren, as if he were the more dangerous of the two. It might have been true in the immediate, but Hux knew better.

They went into the lift and immediately descended towards the officers’ levels. Hux’s shoulders had barely relaxed before he was startled into immediacy again. He had tried to reach out to Ren, but there was something there, too big and too angry to respond.

Kylo felt it, the tired brush of Hux’s mind against his, but wasn’t ready to lower any defenses to him. He turned his head toward him though, letting his eyes slide over the sharp strokes of his profile. The man was ferociously and delicately made at the same time, as though painted by an artist with a fine but angry brush.

“Do you require anything more this evening, general?” he asked in a low voice.

“No,” Hux spoke slowly, in a deep breath, letting go of whatever desires he might have held. “No, Lord Ren. It will all wait.”

Kylo didn’t speak again, turning back to face the lift door as they traveled to their rooms. He was silent as they walked, and he kept his distance ahead of Hux as though there were threats even here.

When they’d gone into the suite, the Knight headed for his own assigned room. He paused in the doorway.

“Don’t do that again,” he said, hearing his voice forbidding but emotionless through the helmet.

Hux frowned, looking over at Ren, too tired to be anything but confused.

“What are you talking about?”

“Putting yourself in danger like that.” Kylo pressed his lips. “It’s a stupid thing for an officer of your rank to do. Your death would have significant impact in the middle of a rebellion like that.”

Hux blinked, and then smirked, watching Ren tiredly. He hummed and then turned back to his room. “I seem drawn to danger, Kylo,” Hux said, opening his door. “I suppose that means you should stay close. Just in case.”

“How close?” Kylo knew he was the most dangerous thing in Hux’s sphere. The Supreme Leader should have been, but when was he as close, when was he as furious, or as possessive?

Hux sighed, running a hand through his hair, turning and walking into his rooms. “As close you’d like. I don’t have the energy to deal with…” He gestured towards Kylo Ren, turning back slightly. “Whatever this is right now. You may come in or go as you please.”

“Then go sleep, general.” Hux’s near-deaths hung heavy over Kylo Ren’s shoulders, exhausting him more than the battles. He experienced it again, that sensation of the moment there had been no Hux, back on the Finalizer, back when he’d been Ben Solo. He wanted to banish the memory, but he knew it would come back to him again when he tried to meditate before allowing himself any sleep.

“Well earned, by both of us.”

Hux didn’t reach out again, and as he went back into the berth, the door shut. He barely got out of his clothing, down only to his basics, before he collapsed onto his bed, already asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i mean
> 
>  
> 
>  _rikki_ ?


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is explicit content in this chapter! The next installment will be the last, we hope you enjoy it!

Hux and Kylo spent only a few more days on board the _Vindication_ , most of their time preoccupied by sleep and expanded briefings and, in Hux’s case, more than a few meetings regarding the direction of the entire Olbardred system.

Knowing the kind of temper Ren had, and hoping that he hadn’t misjudged his extraordinary ability to simply pretend that the people who annoyed him didn’t exist, Hux did everything in his power to make sure that the Knight and Colonel Barril stayed apart. He found that it wasn’t hard, Joran was more than happy to leave Ren to his meditation.

Hux was tired of keeping the men apart, as if he were shepherding two children around a dangerous path. Besides the inconvenience, he longed to be back on board Star Killer. They were so close to the destruction of the senate, the anticipation crawled along his skin like a living thing. When he told Joran Barril that he was leaving he didn’t have a single ounce of regret in him.

He bowed to Joran, who grinned and pull Hux into a hug. It was entirely unbecoming, but Hux sighed and put a hand on Barril’s back before the colonel pulled back. Kylo Ren’s stiff posture didn’t change as he watched them.

The two officers said curt goodbyes and then Hux disappeared into the _Javelin_ , settling into a stiff chair in the lounge. Barril looked over at Ren and nodded, and it was something like a bow this time.

Without acknowledging the gesture, the Knight turned sharply and followed the general into the shuttle. He was outside the First Order’s structure, so saluting and ranking meant nothing to him. He had no more respect for the colonel than he’d had when they’d embarked on this mission. His boots were loud on the shuttle ramp, and he heard its mechanized whirring behind him as he walked away down the hall to join Hux in the lounge. The lights overhead highlighted new dents in the surface of his black helmet, as well as some scratches over the silverwork around his eyes.

“So we return to Star Killer?” he asked, standing and watching Hux. The man, predictably, already had a datapad in his hand.

Hux made a noise, glancing up at Ren. He nodded before glancing back down at the messages. All the problems were starting to blur together.

“To Star Killer,” Hux agreed. “Unless you have another directive?”

“None,” Kylo Ren said quietly. It was true and demoralizing. Once they returned to Star Killer, he would most likely be put under house arrest again, his weapon taken from him, his drive removed.

“Very well.” Hux turned back to his pad. “We will have to persuade your Knights to see reason.”

“They don’t make their own decisions,” Kylo said as he turned his head to look at Hux again. “They are commanded by me...and in the absence of my will, they follow the Supreme Leader’s.”

“Hopefully, they understand that as well,” Hux said, looking up at Ren. “I want your freedom back as much as you do.”

“So you’ll have your rooms back?” There was a joke in there about destroyed property and only having one bathroom, but he wasn’t the man who made those jokes anymore.

“So you’ll have your position back,” Hux responded, eyes flicking up to Ren before looking down to his pad again. “Although, I will admit, I don’t appreciate sharing my rooms.”

“No, I’m sure you don’t.” The Knight walked over to stand by the sofa, watching out the window as they sped away from the Star Destroyer. “With my position reinstated, I’ll likely be leaving the base.”

Hux frowned, head down. “If that is your prerogative.”

“It’s simple logic, general.”

“You could stay,” Hux responded, looking back up at Ren, tilting his head up.

“Then who will you trust out in the rest of the galaxy to create your peace?” Even though his face was unseen, the eyebrow lift was audible in his voice.

Hux took a deep breath, refusing to snap at Ren.

“I was simply offering, Lord Ren,” he said quietly. “After the events this week, perhaps you would enjoy a short rest.”

It would be admitting weakness to say he needed rest, but he didn’t feel any sort of judgement coming from the other man. There was a compromise here. They only needed to find it.

“If you would like my presence on the base for a bit longer, I will see if my new orders will accommodate your request.”

Hux smirked a little, shrugging. “I thought you only liked it when I accommodated you,” he teased, glancing up at Ren again.

“I lose my chance for a good fight if you do that too often.” Kylo Ren was watching him curiously from behind the faceplate. He tentatively lowered his mind’s defenses, curious if only because of that smirk that was so much like a smile for the general.

“Consider this a passing leniency,” Hux murmured, and he felt it then, the gentle brush, the openness, the new closeness between them. He took a deep breath, and revelled in it, in the presence and power that was Kylo Ren. “Enjoy it.”

Kylo was enjoying it, the hesitation and hidden drowsiness he could feel from Hux. It was unique, something that wasn’t born from weariness, but from a sense of some comfort, a tiny touch of laziness. An enjoyed conversation. Not being alone.

Hux took another long, slow breath in, and held it, closing his eyes. He looked up at Ren again, smirking.

«Good trip?»

«A success.» He paused, turning his head to watch out the window again. Holding up his hand to the glass, he felt as though he could pull the enormity of space into the palm of his hand. At the right command, he could do it. «Our success.»

Hux swallowed, watching Ren, his smirk gone. He felt it, the enormity of the man in front of him.

«You did well. Every part of it. I hope you’re proud of what you’ve done.» He still found talking in shorter sentences easier, better to get a real idea across. «I am proud of what you have done.»

When the Knight inhaled, the air flooded his lungs as though he was drowning in it and it took him a minute to register what the sensation actually was. A deep breath, a full breath. He couldn’t remember why he’d thought this wasn’t his path. He couldn’t remember why he hadn’t trusted the man beside him. A dim memory of Hux’s sharp, angry mouth in the hallway that led to the hangar on Star Killer Base, the subtle earthquake of anger when Joran Barril’s worthless hands touched Arrik and used a name that wasn’t his. The past was messy and tangled, like old wiring you didn’t want to touch lest you get electrocuted. He didn’t think he could look at Hux’s face just then, but he wanted to hear him say it again, like that, in his head where it was only the two of them.

«You were a true commander.» He let himself fall into the Force, just slightly, just enough to feel the stars and planets they were moving past, to feel the steady heart beating in the other man. Alive. «There will be more battles. You will not need to put yourself in danger then.»

Hux kept his eyes on Ren, and he sent across what he had felt when Zayral had taken over command completely while they were in the Astogan system. He had hated it, it may have been a better place for him on board the _Finalizer_ , but he had barely given direction. He wanted something more than that, he wanted the thrill of pulling the trigger, he wanted to feel the legions around him, the danger, the heat, the ache afterwards.

He swallowed, shaking his head, looking down again, but not seeing the pad on his lap.

«I enjoy the danger, Ren. Allow me the luxury afforded to a common trooper.»

«It is a luxury you will have to give up. Your place is here. If you want to pull the trigger, aim your blaster at me.» He felt it in Hux, the desire to feel the kickback, the noise around him, the flush in his face as he pressed on to victory while death breathed cold on the back of his neck. «If you want danger, you have it right here.»

Hux sighed.

«It’s not the same.»

«We all have to make sacrifices for the First Order and for its inevitable victory.» Kylo’s voice was hard again for a minute, even just inside their heads. «I’m the one on the ground. Your place is commanding. You have to make sure no one takes that from you.»

Hux blinked, and then looked up at Ren again, staring. He put aside his pad. «Come here.»

There was only a half second of hesitation before Kylo turned and walked to stand before Hux’s chair. He looked down at him, the blank front of his mask looked down at him and reflected the general back at himself.

Hux took a deep breath, shifting forward. He put his hand on Ren’s hip, and then grasped the fabric there, pulling him closer. «Be my eyes.» He looked up at Ren, eyebrows up, «show me what I’m missing.»

Kylo let himself be moved, though he made sure that Hux knew it. He wanted Hux to feel what he was controlling, or what he could be controlling. It was no longer the raw power and energy of the smuggler the general had known, nor was he the newborn knight feeling his way through authority and excitement. He was the cracked crystal housed in his lightsaber, quick to red hot, dangerous anger, too strong for a single outlet.

«If you let me, and you were in a quiet place, and you are strong enough, I could connect you to every piece of a battle. Every ship, every legion, yours to see and direct.” More Sith skills, untaught and untried, but he was certain he could do anything.

Hux frowned, looking up at him. He shook his head. «Every piece? How?»

Kylo Ren paused; he wasn’t, in all honesty, exactly sure how it worked yet.

«I’ll be connected to them. And then...through our connection, you’ll be.» He thought of Hux’s intense headaches, then decided not to mention any warnings. «You’ll be able to do more than just see a bigger picture through your screens and diagnostics. You’ll feel it all.»

He closed his eyes and let Hux feel his own sense memories of the fight on Faolan, what it felt like to be so aware of the movements of the rebels above them, the stormtroopers ranging around them, and Hux’s own life burning sharp and hot beside him. He let him feel the moment when, having let himself drop back into the Force, he knew there would be danger, and then, finally, what it was like to bring the bridge down, to crush the structure as though it was a dried sand sculpture in his hand.

Hux’s breath caught in his throat, his eyes screwed tightly together and the images and feelings, the heat of battle, of the lightsaber, of his own body beside him. It was a strange feeling, to be both inside and outside yourself.

He pull Ren closer, their knees knocking together, Hux’s forehead pressed against Ren’s stomach. He breathed out, shakily and nodded.

«This, Ren.» He murmured, both hands in the fabric around Ren’s hips. «Give it to me, this and more than this.»

«Then next time…» Kylo slid his gloved hand through Hux’s hair, destroying his perfect part before tightening his grip and forcing the general’s head up to look at him. «Stay on the ship.»

Hux’s mouth opened slightly as his head was pulled back. He stared up at the dark helmet, annoyed that he couldn’t see Kylo’s face. He closed his eyes instead, some strange version of trust. «Promises, promises.» His voice was soft, demanding and not at all, almost teasing.

«Show me more.»

It was easier than it should have been, letting it all out into the open, eager expense of Hux’s mind. The battle was gritty and disjointed, but Kylo moved through it all with certainty most sentients never felt. He let Hux feel it, whatever of it he could comprehend, that sensation of letting oneself fall into the Force and move with it, knowing you didn’t even need your eyes open, feeling the push and pull of it against your mind and body. It wasn’t a peaceful feeling however; his anger boiled underneath it all, spiking up when he drew on it for more clarity and power. The Force was his arm, which was his lightsaber; he moved through things, above them, with them. It burned him out raw and then built him up again, and every ounce of pain he took out on those foolish enough to think they could defeat him.

Hux groaned at the intrusion, leaning back against the couch, pulling on Kylo’s clothing and then letting his hands rest on Kylo’s thighs, fingers barely touching him. He was in pain, he was in ecstasy, but through it all he was present, aware of the battle around him, the pain of killing, the end of things.

Kylo’s reach extended even beyond Kylo himself, and Hux could sense the entire battle, vaguely, in this strange Force-fuelled retrospect. He swallowed and then took another deep breath.

«Incredible, Ren.» He sent across, more of a feeling than a thought.

«I could give this to you every time.» No one else could give Hux that. «I can give you this, Arrik.» No one else could call him that, not the way he said it.

Hux made a noise, nodding. He opened his eyes, barely. «We should find a time.» Hux murmured, pleased and proud and excited. The General was spoiling for a fight, itching for it. «Is this something you unearthed during your studies? Am I yet uninitiated?»

«Related to something,» Kylo allowed, loosening his fingers in the other man’s hair. Strands of red gold pulled away with his hand, still wrapped around his gloved fingers. «There isn’t a lot of information, but there have been Force users who controlled fleets of ships with only their minds.»

Sighing, Hux nodded. «We could practice using sim runs on the _Finalizer_ , if you think that would simulate an appropriate environment.»

«They wouldn’t be real ships. How could I show you a battle with false ships and false battles? The distance wouldn’t be real, nor the danger.» Kylo shrugged, attention still on the hair he’d pulled from Hux’s head. He held his hand up a bit, letting the light catch on the loose strands as though they were thin metallic wires.

«We’ll run them with pilots. A technical. Real ships, fewer casualties,» he responded quickly, watching the turn of Kylo’s hand. He took a deep breath and let it out through his nose. This had to be something Kylo wanted, or it wouldn’t work. This was the force, beyond him, beyond his understanding, beyond his capabilities, He wondered, idly, in some not-so private corner of his mind, if Kylo would always be beyond in ways he wouldn’t explain.

«I won’t push if you don’t think it would work,> Hux said mildly. «You can come to me after, show me what your hands have wrought.»

“I’m telling you that I can give it to you,” Kylo Ren said with sudden, almost violent confidence. He grabbed onto his hair again, wanting to see his throat exposed again, the raw, vulnerable stroke of near white against his dark uniform collar. “I’m telling you I’ll make it work if you’re willing to trust me.”

Hux swallowed as he looked up, mouth parting, just barely.

“I trust you.”

It was simple, and honest, and without any pretense. He didn’t pull away from Kylo, didn’t even try.

For a moment, Kylo almost bent down to kiss his mouth; the muscles in the back of his neck tensed for the movement. It was a belated thing to remember his helmet. Wearing it had become a habit. He didn’t noticed it anymore. Instead he pulled harder on his hair, fingertips of his free hand trailing down Hux’s throat. He whispered the words into the general’s head, making them sharp, before turning them into a caress.

«Good. Arrik.»

Hux made a noise, mouth still open as he watched Kylo. His eyes were half-lidded, his breathing even, and even as his pulse shot a light flush to his cheeks.

«Just good, Kylo?» He asked, pushing forward, sliding on the couch, his head turning further back, exposing more of his neck, arching his back. «I want more than good.»

«Then you’ll have to give me more to judge.» Behind the faceplate, the Knight licked his lips then set his teeth in the bottom one. He slid his thumb down from Hux’s sharp jaw bone beside his windpipe, feeling his heart throbbing in his throat.

«Haven’t I asked you to be direct about what you want?» Hux tilted his head, turning into the hand tangled in his hair, away from the fingers on his neck. «Should we go immediately to my quarters when we’re back on base?»

«The fact that you need to ask speaks volumes,» Kylo said quietly. «When does this thing land?»

“A few hours,” Arrik almost whispered. “Stay close until then. Near.”

Kylo Ren thought of how they’d whispered their plans to one another. How he’d dared to say the word into Hux’s head and been rewarded by the other man’s quicker breath against his ear. Emperor. What was this now? The muscles in his arm still longed to tighten his hand around Hux’s throat and push him against a wall, or right here to force him back until the chair tipped onto its back and he was holding Hux against the floor.

Hux blinked, feeling the rush from Kylo. He swallowed and took a deep breath, looking down.

Kylo stepped back from Hux slowly, watching his face and knowing he’d gotten an impression of his thoughts, if not the details. He kept his eyes on him as he moved back, sitting on a chair across from him stiffly. He set his hands on his knees, closing his eyes behind the mask.

Hux’s eyes flicked up, but he pulled his pad onto his lap. He shook his head, almost amused by the taciturn behaviour, although not unsurprised. He smirked as he flipped through the reports on Star Killer, taking a deep breath.

He let every defense down then, anything that he might have put up since the betrayal on Star Killer two weeks ago. Arrik swallowed, taking a deep breath, closing his eyes, letting every shield fall, any trick he had picked up, thrown aside. He wanted Ren to see him, complete, without any kind of veneer or husk he had built up.

It would be nothing for Kylo Ren to push aside these flimsy defenses, brush them away like paper, but Arrik wanted to show Kylo that as much as he wanted Kylo to be his, there was a part of him that wanted the Knight to respond in kind. He needed reassurance in the wake of their split, even as they clutched at each other in this very lounge. Wasn’t Kylo jealous of Joran, wasn’t Kylo the man who fantasized about marking him, hunting him?

It was like a window opening beside him, with new light streaming in. Kylo Ren felt the moment Hux let him into his mind, should he want it, and his first impulse was that angry one again. He could hurt him like this, rip through his head and leave him screaming on the floor. But what was the point of that? He let his fists open slowly until his palms lay flat on his knees.

Hux’s honesty was almost difficult to take. The general had never lied to him, even if he was careful with his admissions, and he never lied to himself. His purpose was unchanged and unswerving, and in the quiet of the lounge, Kylo Ren both hated it and admired it, hated the man and admired him.

For a moment, and that moment only, the Knight lowered his own defenses and let his consciousness brush against Hux’s as it had in the best times, unguarded and simplified. There was his jealousy, the lingering pain from whatever Snoke had done to him, the memory of smoke in his mouth, and the sense of loss that accompanied their estrangement. Outwardly, he never moved, silent and still on the chair.

Arrik closed his eyes, turning his head to the side slightly, feeling their shared space again, and suddenly overwhelmed by it. He wanted it, wanted more and less at the same time, control and Kylo Ren.

«You’re incredible,» Hux murmured, and it was less like a projection, more like a shared conscious thought. He was in awe of Kylo Ren, angry and possessive. He swallowed, still feeling the press of the Knight around him.

Behind the mask of his helmet, Kylo Ren allowed himself to smirk. He knew what it was Hux found incredible, what he’d always wanted out of him. Power. Raw power. While it was impressive when it channeled into specific things, unique skills to be used on the battlefield or in individual fights, the general was more impressed by the potential of it, the danger of all that power with its jagged edges and the possibility that it couldn’t be controlled, that it could overcome even its wielder.

«You say that and you don’t even know what you want from me.»

Shifting a little, tilting his head up, leaning back against the couch. «I want everything.»

«Which is nothing. Unfocused desires lead to nothing.» Kylo Ren heard the snide tone in his own voice and did nothing to correct it.

Hux sighed, opening his eyes and turning to look at Ren again.

“I want everything from you.” He said quietly, watching Kylo.

“Again. You don’t know what that means.” Kylo Ren’s deep breath was inaudible; the vocoder only picked up his words and filtered out his breathing.

“Maybe I’m the only one who knows what that means,” Hux responded, tilting his head slightly.

“Everything would tear you apart,” Kylo said calmly, voice rumbling but slightly amused. He felt the strange blend of annoyance and arousal from the other man at this, but when the general didn’t reply, he felt no need to go on himself. He did let himself settle back against the sofa and close his eyes, knowing his helmet would disguise his rest.

Hux let them travel in peace, not bothering to respond aloud or otherwise. They approached the star formerly known as Kinath-I and he turned off the landing call quickly. He wasn’t going to stand on ceremony, and he didn’t expect Ren to adhere to any kind of pomp either. He had ordered Star Killer to continue operations as normal, he’d find his own way to the control room.

However, Hux made a strange observation when they landed gently in the docking bay of Star Killer.

A snap shuttle. Not one that was entirely military, at least not entirely First Order. It was small, fast, anonymous, easily overlooked in a large hangar. It wasn’t tucked away, it was just...there.  
Hux didn’t pause as he walked through the base. He had received no messages about a shuttle or a guest of any kind, but there was no way for any ship to enter the atmosphere of Star Killer, the shields were too strong, having dedicated large swathes of land to supporting the generators that criss-crossed the planet.

It was strange, but Hux was not alarmed, and simply continued through the hangar towards the main hallway.

Kylo walked with him, making sure he stayed beside him rather than trailing behind. He knew the way back to the general’s suite of rooms. He was looking forward to a long sleep, maybe with permission to go to his own room.  
What he wasn’t looking forward to were the Knights who’d likely be waiting for him. It would be tedious, he knew, to break them of whatever habits they had that he hadn’t implanted in them. He had returned a victorious warrior, a leader, and should he need to collapse a building on his recalcitrant Knights to remind them who they followed, he would.

His mental defenses snapped back up, fortified against any kind of intrusion. None of the Knights were as strong as he was in the Force, but it didn’t take much to get into an unguarded mind. He didn’t say anything to Hux as they drew closer to his rooms, but he knew that the general wasn’t surprised to see the black robed figure standing by the door. However, while Hux likely assumed it was one of the Knights who’d been there when they left, Kylo Ren felt the different, like inhaling and knowing someone’s scent.

«Sa’marha.» He’d broken her in the snow.

The figure turned towards him slightly, her blank helmet strange and impassive. She inclined her head slightly and Hux frowned as they approached.

“Knight,” he said, standing in front of her. “I’d like to go into my rooms, and you seem to be making yourself a wall.”

«Is he always so blithe?» Sa’mahra said directly into Kylo’s mind, stepping aside for the General.

Hux glared at the Knight, shot a feeling of annoyance over his shoulder, and went into his rooms, the door sliding shut and leaving behind the two black-clad, helmeted Knights in the hall.

Mar tilted her head up.

«They thought you had run.»

«Would I have run with him? Or rather, would he have run with me?» Kylo Ren shook his head. He was watching her carefully, trying to ascertain from her movements if any of her injuries lingered. Her helmet hid her, her dark clothes hid her. She was careful with her mind,as always.

Sa’marha didn’t respond for a few seconds, tilting her head to the side. Any observations about the statement she kept to herself. Kylo would have run with Hux, didn’t seem to consider that she had that she accused him of running away by himself. What kind of hold did the General have on Kylo Ren anyway?

«Regardless,» Her murmurs were soft but clear, ringing out brightly from out of a dark fog. «You have returned.»

«Victorious,» Kylo Ren added, remembering all the times they’d wished one another victory before battles, knowing it was the only outcome that either would accept. And what had happened when they fought one another? She had failed, and then he had failed. A battle with no victors.

His hand brushed against the hilt of his lightsaber under the heavy cloak he’d worn for traveling. She had made no move to attack, or ask for his pre-emptive surrender, but he was ready. He had to always be ready for a fight, as he had been when he walked into bars on planets his father’s name had made less than friendly.

Mar was always careful with her words, and she did not speak without consideration. Behind her mask, she pressed her mouth, trying to read Kylo through their tenuous bond. There was defensiveness there, more than just the shields he had been put around his mind.

«Apparently,» she said, tilting her head slightly. She didn’t try to push him or break down his defenses. «Were the others wrong to be so concerned about your loyalties?»

«They were wrong to put themselves above me.» He left his loyalties out of it. They were no longer her’s to question. «Do you agree with them?»

«They were being cautious, Kylo.» She left off his title, and it would almost be rude if they weren’t speaking so closely, so intimately still. «They were ordered to do so, and I don’t think less of them for it.»

«And now you’re here in their place,» Kylo Ren said, turning and putting one hand on the closed door before turning back to her. «Are you here to show your...concern?»

«I’m here to make sure you’ve returned as a Knight and not a traitor.» Her voice was sharp, unapologetic, and she squared her shoulders slightly, the cloak settling around her.

«If I was a traitor, General Hux would already be dead. Moreover, I’d continue to let you speak to me like this.» His voice hardened and echoed in her head. «Are you finished?»

She remained unmoved by the emotion that snapped into his voice. «I will send Marden and Ephreen back to Athira. Her training has just begun. I will remain for a few more days.»

«Good. I need to see how out of practice you are, now that you’re recovered from your injuries. You will begin your training with me tomorrow.» Kylo kept his eyes on her helmet, his senses on anything she let through her own mental walls. He missed their closeness suddenly, the way it had felt to whisper silently to one another before sleeping when they were star systems away from one another.

He didn’t reach out, but she felt it, suddenly, an abstract twist in her gut that ached. She set her jaw, not looking away from Ren. To anyone in the hallway it would seem as if the two Knights were just waiting outside the general’s door, silent.

«Not fully recovered.» Again, the absence of his title, made obvious by omission. «We can resume our training, if you’d like.»

Behind his dark helmet, the helmet she’d made, his jaw tensed. If he had to hurt her, he would; he had to be done with the insubordination and erosion of his authority. Even as he missed the closeness he’d shared with her, she was his second in command. She was not his equal.

«It is my command that you resume your training.»

Mar didn’t respond immediately. Her shoulders were tense, her body tight, springs wound taunt and waiting for the trap to close.

«Tomorrow,» she agreed. Mar inclined her head slightly, feeling that press, the weight of authority that Kylo wore. The softer parts of her had calloused and hardened, and she knew that not all the wounds were physical. Their relationship needed to be reforged, remade, and she supposed that it would become harder and stronger as well.

«You’re dismissed, Mar,» he said after a moment, using her nickname intentionally as she had avoided his title. “Tomorrow at 10 bells,” he said aloud, voice cutting unashamedly through the silence. He had nothing to hide anymore. She’d find no shame in him.

She stood still for a few seconds longer, and then turned, walking away from Kylo down the hallway. It was almost an act of defiance, exposing her back to the man who almost killed her, walking away as if it had never happened.

“Tomorrow,” she responded, raising her voice slightly. She turned a corner and disappeared from sight.

In the empty hallway, he felt his shoulders slump slightly, now that there was no one to witness him. The moment of weakness was too much; drawing in a deep breath, he pulled up the dark side he relied on and trusted. He had no need to be her friend. While his fight with her had been a symptom of his own weakness at the time, her loss had been her own. He punched the button to open the suite door, striding in and looking around. Everything was as neat and immaculate as the general had left it.

He glanced around the silent room; Hux was almost eerily silent when he wanted to be. Kylo turned his head and saw Hux, having abandoned his uniform for the cycle. His loungewear always had something slightly formal about them; maybe it was because they always looked like they were rarely used. Maybe it was how straight the general’s back always was. The clothing was casual but the man never was. His ubiquitous datapad was in his hands and Kylo imagined he was catching up on whatever he thought couldn’t wait for him.

“I’ve dismissed Sa’marha Ren,” he said, walking further into the room before undoing the buckles on the shoulder of his traveling cloak.

“Did you?” Hux asked, but it wasn’t a question. “I assumed she would escort you back to your rooms.”

“I no longer require an escort on this base.” Kylo paused a moment. Back to his rooms. Why had he come into the general’s suite?

“That’s certainly a relief,” Hux murmured, tone almost teasing as he glanced up at Kylo. He paused, watching him for another second before looking back to his pad. “If you prefer the couch to your own berth, I will relinquish control.”

“Every couch the First Order has ever been produced is a reason the First Order could lose as a galactic power,” the Knight said drily. What was he doing here? He watched Hux while Hux wasn’t watching him, seeing the man’s eyes sliding over the words and diagrams on the datapad in front of him.

“I’ll notify the powers that be,” Hux smirked, eyes narrowing slightly, amused. “The Lord Ren requires a new couch design. It must be comfortable enough to sleep on, long enough to accommodate his lordship’s height, and if the fabric is not the deepest shade of black, it will be destroyed, and your family killed.”

“That’s a good start anyway,” Kylo replied, with just a touch of humor that he hadn’t been sure had survived his last training session with the Supreme Leader. He looked to Hux again. “What are you working on?” It wasn’t his business to know, and as he walked over to stand behind his chair, he fully expected the general to remind him of that.

Hux looked up at Ren as he walked over, but quickly returned to his work, not even bothering to hide what he was reading over.

“I’m reading over reports that officers and troopers have sent. These are,” Hux said, gesturing, “...clandestine files. Sent from stations across the First Order.”

“They have no bearing on you, right here and now, do they?” Kylo asked quietly. He felt extra energy tingling along his muscles. He wasn’t sure if it was still leftover from the fight, or from his interaction with Sa’marha. It made his hand tremble as he set it on the back of Hux’s chair; he glared at his fingers to still them.

Hux felt the unstillness, the shiver in the air around them. He frowned slightly, wondered what had caused this strangeness to come over Kylo Ren, because who else could it be but him?

“Not immediately, no,” Hux admitted, frowning, “they are important if I want to continue to keep my hold on the First Order as it stands.” It wasn’t entirely secret. It was a well known fact that many of the officers who commanded quadrants paid or installed their agents in other ships.

Kylo pulled the chair back suddenly, fingers gripping with unbreakable strength as he was suddenly looking down at Hux’s face, standing over him.

“Leave them,” he said, and it was almost an order.

“And what will occupy in their stead?” Hux asked, not reaching for the key screen.

“For a man of vision, your imagination leaves much to be desired,” Kylo Ren said quietly, gloved fingers stretching slightly against the back of the chair beneath Hux’s shoulder. It was a strangely caressing gesture, the pace matching his voice. Considering. A dangerous stillness.

Half a second later, he stepped back and pulled the chair down onto the floor in a rough, sure movement. The crash was sudden and loud, and he looked down at the man who was now on his back and trapped in the downed chair.

Hux had the wind knocked out of him, and for a full second he was too shocked to respond, looking up at Kylo from his back.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Hux hissed, glaring up at Kylo. “Have you lost your kriffing mind?”

Kylo crouched beside him, smirking behind the mask of his black helmet. “Did I frighten you, general?”

“If you were trying to scare me, I’d hope you would do more than throw furniture around,” Hux growled, shifting and sitting up, pushing himself away from the chair. He was angry and annoyed, he had no explanation for it. “What’s the matter with you?”

“You don’t want to work, yet you complain when I give you an alternative,” Kylo said, fingers curling by his side.

“Throwing me on the ground is handly an alternative,” Hux snapped.

“Isn’t it?” The Knight’s voice was still deceptively mild. He flicked his wrist slightly, fingers spread a little as he gestured and Hux was pushed down again, with the sensation of a hand slowly sliding up his chest to his throat.

Hux’s eyes widened, and he felt cold rage well up behind his teeth. He growled, shifting on the ground, glaring at Ren.

“If you want to fuck, you just had to stay so, this is absurd.”

It wasn’t absurd to Kylo Ren; he enjoyed it, standing up slowly to walk the few steps to Hux’s prone body, hand still extended to keep him on the cold floor. The general didn’t struggle, glaring up at Ren, knowing that it would be futile to even try to move. Kylo looked down at him, head still while his eyes moved over Hux’s body; he wasn’t fighting, but every muscle was taut, waiting to be released and in that instant be on the defensive. Or offensive, maybe.

“It’s mundane to just murmur that in someone’s ear. Now I have your attention.”

“Simply because you have the power to throw me across the room doesn’t mean that you should,” Hux hissed, feeling the Force along his wrists, pinning his hands down, fingers brushing over his throat gently.

“Then tell me what you do then.” Kylo’s hand remained still, but there was a slight tightening in his muscles that translated to an additional pressure on Hux’s body. He could see the slight widening of his pale eyes as his airway constricted under the less gentle application of the Force.

Hux swallowed, eyes narrowed on Kylo Ren’s mask. His kriffing mask. He set his jaw and pulled his shoulders up, tried to lift his hands from the ground.

“Ren.” it was almost a warning. These sorts of games were infuriating.

“I said you should tell me what you want,” Kylo murmured, his voice also near a warning. The tone was slightly distorted by the vocoder, but Hux should have known him well enough by now to read through even that.

“If we’re going to fuck, take me to the kriffing bedroom,” Hux snapped, “be quick about it, I don’t want to spend all evening pinned like a this.”

Kylo tilted his head as he looked down at Hux, watching him with a preternatural stillness before stepping back. All at once the invisible bonds that had been holding the general down evaporated leaving no marks. “Get up then.” The violence that had made him shove the chair to the ground had been reined in, but it was still lurking just below the layer of anonymous black he was covered in.

Hux growled as he stood up, turning away from the Knight immediately and heading to the bedroom. He pulled the light pullover off and tossed it over his shoulder, aiming for where he thought Kylo would be.

Almost without thinking about it, the Knight ducked to the side and the shirt flew by him before landing in a dark puddle of fabric on the floor. He didn’t say anything as he followed Hux, not having the right thing to put into words yet. The bedroom could have been without occupant, so tidy and sterile did it appear in the bright light that came on automatically when they walked in.

Kylo Ren clenched his fist by his side and his wrist bent slightly, but he relaxed it again with an effort and let the other man walk to his bed.

Hux turned, glaring at Kylo Ren. He gestured to the bed, “You’re wearing too much clothing.”

“Get onto the bed, general,” Kylo said quietly. He was holding himself so tightly, so bound up in himself. Once he released it all, he’d be a machine, a force of nature. There was still so much he hadn’t worked through, though he’d thought the battle had released it all. But being back here, seeing the unbroken snow for miles and feeling the empty, hollow core of the planet brought some of the anger back, the memory of the anger. His desire was violent, and he could feel that Hux’s was too, and it was only leading to an explosion that both of them had known was coming for days now.

Hux frowned and sat down on the bed, almost glaring at Kylo Ren. He knew it, felt it, exactly what Ren wanted.

Stars, sometimes it was nice to be wanted so much, so intensely. With Kylo Ren he could feel it along his skin, he could practically see it. His mouth went dry as he leaned into it, let Kylo Ren tell him what he wanted.

Everything, apparently.

Hux almost couldn’t stand it, he swallowed and lay back on the bed, pushing at his trousers until he was down only to his basics. He kicked the clothing off the bed and closed his eyes, leaning his head back

“Hurry up then,” he said quietly, running his hands through his hair. “Haven’t got all night.”

Kylo Ren watched him a moment longer, letting Hux know he was being examined, the lines of his body read and memorized like a map marked out with battle plans. He was ridges and flat planes, he was snow covered and hiding tracks of previous wars beneath him. He could see and feel the pulse in Arrik’s throat, feeling it along the connection that had dimmed but not broken.

“You have as much time as I require, general,” he said quietly, stepping forward until he felt the edge of the stiff mattress against his legs.

The officer took a deep breath, tilting his head back again. “Do something, then.”

In a movement that was so fast it was almost outside of time, Kylo knelt on the bed over Hux’s exposed body, strong gloved fingers wrapped around the general’s throat as he looked down at him. He pressed him back into the mattress, even as it protested with a quiet squeak. The violence bubbled up in tarry gasps from that dark core inside himself, and he felt his control over the pale man beneath him.

Arrik tensed on the bed, put didn’t struggle, putting a hand on Kylo’s wrist. He swallowed and gasped, squeezing Kylo’s wrist.

«I want to see your face,» He murmured, his mental voice at least, still steady.

«Why?» The question was genuinely curious. His face didn’t matter anymore. He was as much his helmet as he was his features, maybe more now; the dark helmet erased all the signs of the man he had been before, the man who had been curious and laughing and weak.

Arrik’s face was red, his feet pressed against the bed, arching his back slightly. He made a noise before responding. He couldn’t convey it in words, and as he sent the ideas and images, he knew that whatever defenses he had would be broken down completely.

Arrik wanted to see Kylo’s face, he wanted to be able to read him and understand him, he wanted to know what Kylo felt, what he wanted. He liked seeing Kylo’s face, he enjoyed it. There was a feeling there that it was personal, that it wasn’t just a casual fuck.

He sent it over in feelings and images, in the way that Ren’s hair felt in his hands. In the way that Kylo’s mouth opened when he was about to cum. Arrik felt satisfied, he felt wanted, he felt desire deep in the pit of his stomach, understood it intimately. He wanted Kylo Ren. Every part of him.

It was like being punched and caressed at the same time, to take all of that in, the layers and levels of it all. Why couldn’t it be simple, Kylo’s inner voice asked viciously, smearing red over his vision and forcing his hand tighter for a second. If this was just hate that had spread Hux, his skin absorbing and reflecting the light from overhead, on the bed, this would be easy, just an extension of battle and of the anger that was always burning low in his gut now. But it was tangled and difficult, because while Hux’s voice called him Kylo Ren, he heard the other name hiding underneath the general’s tongue.

Kylo Ren slowly released his grip on Hux’s throat, seeing the marks he’d left on his skin darkening already. He made no apology (he never would), and sat back, reaching up with both hands to release the lock mechanism on the helmet. Ducking his head slightly, he pulled it off before dropping it over the edge of the bed. His eyes were slightly wide as he looked to meet Hux’s, his hair flattened in some places and wild half-curls in others.

Hux gasped as the pressure let up, his legs falling back on the bed. He tightened his own grip on Kylo’s arm, and he knew (with absolute clarity that only comes from intimately knowing another person) what Kylo needed.

“Good,” he murmured, shifting slightly, spreading his legs on the bed, “closer.”

Still fully dressed in his black layers, Kylo moved over Hux. It felt like indulgence to lean down to him, to catch his mouth when it was open and still gratefully taking in the recycled air in the room. Kylo kissed him as though he hated him, feeling his teeth cut the insides of his lips when he pushed forward against him, tilting his head slightly.

Hux pushed back, digging his nails into Ren’s arms through his guards. He growled into Ren’s mouth, pulling him close, dragging him down.

He didn’t want kind; he didn’t want gentle. He wanted Kylo Ren.

Arrik shifted, putting his hands on Kylo’s neck, gripping hard. «Clothes off too.»

Kylo bit at Hux’s lip as he pulled back to kneel up. He unbuckled his jacket, wrapping the strap that gave the dark fabric its shape around his torso. Each piece of clothing came off under his hurried fingers, leaving a black pile of clothes on the floor before he leaned down over Hux again. His hand felt too big on Arrik’s hip; he tightened his grip and let his thumb run over the ridge of his hipbone.

«Tell me what you want.» He whispered it into Hux’s head not as an offer.

Hux drew his hands up Kylo’s body, his eyebrows up. «You know,» he murmured, sliding his legs to straddle Kylo’s. He shifted again, squeezing his knees against Kylo’s sides.

“You,” Arrik said, leaning up to kiss him hard. He held Kylo close, his shoulders knocking against what passed for a headboard as he shifted up the bed. He tried to press his hips up, against Kylo, making a soft noise in the back of his mouth.

Kylo Ren swallowed the sound of it as he pressed himself closer. He felt overwarm and full, pressure building. He wanted to take him, holding one arm around Hux’s back to pull him closer. He wasn’t a general or the boy running through memories they shared though they hadn’t known each other when they’d happened.

Hux shifted, holding Ren closer.

“Don’t go soft now, Ren.”

“Not a concern,” he growled, leaning down to bite his throat hard enough to bruise, with the intention to mark, but with careful attention to placement. The general’s high collar would definitely hide it, with a little space to spare, but he’d feel it. Turning his head, swallowing, any slight movement would bring back this exact movement.

Arrik made a noise, pushing his hips up against Kylo again. He wanted to touch every part of him, and he started by leaving dark red lines down his back, blood almost welling up.

«Keep going,» Hux murmured as he gasped. He didn’t want to wait, he was so on edge already.

Kylo pushed his hard cock against Arrik’s thigh, just to feel him, hearing the involuntary sound the man below him made. «You want me this way?» he asked, putting a hand on Hux’s hip and pushing him into the bed as he kissed and bit his chest. It was intense to feel the blood rushing below his skin, to not give in to the urge to cut through the surface and watch it flow, watch it pulse out to stain Hux’s skin and the sheets below him.

Arrik put his hands in Ren’s hair, pulling, pushing him down further. He was focused completely on Ren, mouth open. He knew that Ren wanted him to bleed, wanted him to hurt, and there was an easy way to make that happen, Ren just had to do it.

«I want you every way.»

Straining against him, Kylo groaned in anticipation. «I want you on your hands and knees,» he snarled into Hux’s mind.

Arrik made a noise, pushing against Kylo’s chest. “Get off,” he growled, shifting on the bed. As soon as he had room he pushed aside his basics, and then kneeled up to kiss Kylo hard, hands in his hair, pulling him down

He pressed his cock against Kylo’s hip, nails digging into his skull. He wanted to be fucked, he wanted Kylo to push him, press him. The qualms he had months ago had nearly disappeared, Kylo was his equal, but he was Kylo’s. No matter what kind of man Kylo was, Hux was equal to it, pushed Kylo further and then turned to dragged the man along.

Kylo grabbed the back of Hux’s neck as he kissed him, knowing he was bruising the general’s mouth as he did. That served to make him want more, to make dark spots rise to the surface on more of his skin, uneven and shameful where they’d be hidden beneath his uniform.

Pulling Arrik back by the grip he had on his neck, Kylo turned them slightly on the mattress so he could shove Hux face down against the bed. He kept his tight hold on him, digging his fingers in to feel the strange fluid grind of tendons under his hand. He slapped the back of his thigh with his other hand, then dragged his fingers up to grip Arrik’s exposed ass.

Arrik shifted easily, pressing his ass back against Kylo. He growled into the duvet, spreading his knees, arms crooked to give himself some purchase.

“If you want to hurt me, hit harder.”

The next slap stung the Knight’s palm and it turned the skin below his hand immediately red and hot to the touch. He watched the muscles in Arrik’s back tightened when he was struck and it made him laugh to himself before he leaned down to bite into the thick bunch of muscles below Arrik’s right shoulder blade.

Hux moaned into the cover, pushing his ass back against Kylo. He hadn’t done this since he had become General. It was impossible, it had been impossible to let anyone touch him like this, but Kylo didn’t hesitate at all. He was perfect for this.

«Get that,» he murmured, sending over the image of lube, a small bottle tucked into the corner of a side drawer.

The drawer flew open at a gesture of Kylo’s fingers. He used the Force to dump the contents, the drawer clattering to the floor after everything with a metallic clang. A second later the bottle was in his hand and he knelt up to look at it. «Tell me how you want this used. Your fingers or mine?»

“Prep me and fuck me, Ren, I’m not asking for much,” he murmured, keeping his face against the mattress. He took another deep breath and shifted again, spreading his legs a little more.

His cock was heavy between his legs, and he felt the thickness of Ren behind him. Stars, the man was huge, and Hux knew that no matter what it would hurt. He groaned again, gripping the duvet.

“I have half a mind to make you prep yourself. Have you ever done that?” Kylo leaned over his back, letting Hux feel him stretched along his entire body. “Your fingers are strong...thin and long. I bet that you’d be good at it.” He kissed the back of his neck with strange fondness he couldn’t explain. “To be honest, you’re the type of man who I could see only pleasuring himself and not needing anyone else at all.”

“Too many nights spent doing this on my own,” Arrik growled, shifting back. “I want you.”

That gave Kylo Ren pause; his mind immediately casting this scene in a different light, seeing Hux alone and illuminated by just the light embedded in the wall over the bed, moaning out his pleasure alone while he pumped his hand over his cock with his gloves still on or pushed his lube-slicked fingers into himself while cursing Ren’s name into the pillow.

Arrik saw it, moaned into the pillow again, and he wasn’t sure if he had sent his memories over or if Ren just had an incredibly accurate imagination.

Kylo snapped the top of the small bottle open with one hand, squeezing some out onto his fingers. Knowing Hux, he was pretty sure it wouldn’t give extra sensation, glow in the dark, or make noise.

“It does the job, just hurry up.” Arrik was already keening, in bed with Kylo Ren, totally naked, bent over on his knees, he could let himself be pushy. “Your fingers, now.”

The Knight took an extra second to smirk to himself, just letting his eyes take in what he had. Then he gripped Hux’s hip with his free hand to hold him steady as he pushed his middle finger into him, to the knuckle, feeling the man’s body fighting him and tensing around the intrusion.

«Are you trying to break my finger?» he growled into his head. Without waiting for more answer than the general’s sharp intake of breath, he pulled his hand back and pushed into him again, less patient this time.

Arrik couldn’t really respond to that, he was breathing hard and his head was bowed. He shifted his knees apart a little more, pressing back into Kylo’s hand. He was breathing hard, eyes closed.

«Shut up and keep fucking me,» Arrik snapped, rolling his shoulders forward.

It was nearly a scream in his head, the thoughts more impressions than words. Kylo shoved him forward, mentally and physically, hearing the reaction in his mind as well as aloud. The throaty grunts Arrik made when he wasn’t making himself quiet were the most satisfying; he wanted to take him hard and remind him of times before there’d been reason to feel judged or disgraced. He entered him with two fingers, knowing his fingers were broad and strong from all the work he’d done over the years.

He twisted the two fingers together in Hux’s body as he withdrew them, the ridges of his knuckles pressed against him. He wanted him to moan again, to make aroused and frustrated noises into the crushed pillow beneath him.

He didn’t have to wait long, Arrik made noises without pretense, pressing his cheek into the pillow as Kylo’s fingers worked through him. The last time this had happened he had finished with barely a hand on him, Kylo’s mouth hot around him.

«Keep going,» Arrik murmured, letting himself relax, not focused on anything but Kylo. He knew that the man didn’t need any encouragement, but there would always be something in Arrik that made him need to give orders.

Kylo Ren knew himself and knew that Hux was clearly not used to being on this side of the bed. He waited just until the other man’s body had accepted his fingers more easily before adding a third, feeling the heat rise up from Hux immediately in response.

It stung, but Arrik gripped the sheets and breathed in deeply, soft moans coming out as he exhaled. He shifted again, not holding back, too preoccupied to deal with shields or suppressing his emotions. It was good. It was so good. He felt Kylo all around him, let his guard down as he slipped into something excited and satisfied. More and more than more.

«You have to tell me when you’re ready,» Kylo whispered into his mind, so quietly it was more a suggestion than an order. It would almost seem to come from the recesses of Arrik’s mind, rather than an outside source. Something beeped on the datapad set on one of the shelves by the bed. A short, sharp gesture with his left hand sent it flying across the room to shatter on the opposite wall, its alert ended mid beep.

Arrik laughed, a short soft huff, and rocked back against Kylo again.

Rather than returning his hand to Arrik’s hip, he ran it up the general’s back. It felt good to let him move, giving him this moment of controlling his own pleasure. Arrik’s muscles were taut under his palm, and Kylo let himself press his fingers into him deeply to feel the reaction run through his body.

In front of him, Arrik continued to move against his fingers. He enjoyed the rough stretch, the way that Kylo felt inside of him. It was slow and indulgent, and he kept his mouth open against the soft duvet, let the soft gasps and moans come out, knowing that Kylo wanted to hear him.

“Just,” he murmured softly, turning his head again, “a little longer.”

“Then let me hear what you like,” Kylo said, hearing his own voice low and hoarse. It seemed to fill the room even without the helmet’s amplifier. He spread his finger slightly, pushing them into Arrik in short pulses that were no more gentle for their brevity.

Arrik shifted, his head almost curling under him, neck dropping as he pressed his forehead against the mattress. It was overwhelming, but he savored the feel of Kylo inside him.

“Like that, Ren.” HIs voice was soft, breathy, “let me enjoy it.” Of course he wanted it hard and rough, he wanted it with hard hands and a heavy rhythm, but this wasn’t bad. It was spectacular.

Again, something turned in Kylo’s chest; he wanted to hear a different name. He didn’t know why he expected it each time. Maybe it was some stupid sentimentality that he hadn’t rid himself of yet. Maybe it was the excitement of the forbidden; no one within the First Order was allowed to know his true name, much less say it aloud.

He let Hux feel more then, not just the turn and slide of his fingers, less careful as the rhythm grew faster, but also tendrils of barely there power over his thighs. At first the sensation was very light, the barest touch on the softer skin of his inner thighs. He’d likely not even notice it as its own feeling at first, and by the time Hux was aware of it, he would feel it intensifying, sliding a phantom hand over his cock, electrifying nerve endings a physical hand could not.

“Oh fuck,” Arrik gasped, his voice almost breaking as he felt Ren all over him. He stopped rocking against Kylo’s fingers, locking his knees. It was overwhelming to be touched like this, to have this sort of complete focus.

“Ben,” he murmured, shifting to kneel up, reaching behind to wrap his hand around the back of Kylo’s neck. Arrik was breathless, and with his other hand he pushed at Kylo’s arm, getting his fingers away from his ass. He could feel every part of Ren, wanted more than just his hand.

When he said it, Kylo was momentarily struck still, the length of his body pressed against Hux’s back. He was breathing heavily, the name echoing through him, reverberating through his bones as though they were hollow. The moment passed and he was filled up with fire, ducking his head to kiss Arrik’s shoulder, then his throat. He bit him hard enough to leave the indentations of his teeth in his skin, then ran the tip of his tongue around in the ridged oval he’d made.

It called for a response, like a ritual.

“Arrik.”

He shivered and pulled Kylo closer again, pulling on his hair. “You going to roll your r’s all night or are you going to fuck me?”

With his mouth still open against Hux’s neck, Kylo positioned himself against his body, one hand at Hux’s thigh to hold him in place. He pushed his cock into him, feeling the tightness around him even though Arrik had been prepared. He felt the desire drumming through Arrik’s veins through the Force, as well as the pressure and pain from Kylo thrusting himself into his body without waiting for his muscles to relax.

“Arrik.”

Arrik jerked forward as Ren’s cock went into him, the breath almost punched out of his lungs. He felt the sting and couldn’t form words as Ren started moving without any adjustment. It hurt, but Arrik moaned again, turning his face towards Ren’s.

They didn’t want it any different.

His mouth was open slightly, his body was arched, and he rested his head against Kylo’s, almost on his shoulder.

Kylo Ren felt that they were fighting, that Arrik’s body wanted him and hated him with every thrust. Hux’s shoulder blade was sharp where he dug into his pectoral when he twisted slightly; they were writhing together and Kylo felt the room hot and humid, felt his breath like fire in his lungs and it seemed impossible that there was ice and snow outside this room.

Arrik’s mouth stayed open, his eyes fluttered, and he relished Kylo against him, in him. He spread his legs and let their closeness draw him in, cover him completely.

There was nothing cautious about the way Kylo thrust his hips forward against Hux, the way he clawed at his thigh or leaned down to bite at his shoulder and throat as though he’d tear pieces of skin away. Holding Arrik’s hip in place with one hand, he raised the other with his fingers tensed, winding the choking power of the Force around Arrik’s throat again, visualizing it pressing, crushing, causing Arrik to gasp and arch against him.

Arrik’s hand tightened in Kylo’s hair, and he rocked his hips back against Kylo as much as he could. His eyes watered slightly, unable to get enough air into his lungs, but he didn’t try to pull away, trusting Kylo to know him. It was a rough fuck, but he was hard anyway, and wrapped his hand around his cock, almost choking as he jerked forwards.

A string of pleasure-laden expletives shot through their connection, and if Arrik had any air left he would have laughed at the ridiculousness of it all. Kylo’s chest was sweaty against his back, his ass stung, his neck and shoulders had the sharp pain of teeth, and he could feel his legs shaking.

Hearing Arrik gasp against him made everything in Kylo’s lower torso tighten. He could feel the pleasured pain running through the other’s man nerves to him. His hips punched forward, moaning against the back of Hux’s head, tasting his sweat when he bit the back of his neck and sucked on the salty skin there. He wanted him reddened and bruised, exhausted and aching. He wanted Arrik to know he was his every time he stepped, sat, buttoned his uniform collar, swallowed against the bruising in his throat.

Arrik’s hand scrambled, he held one against the back of Ren’s neck, the other hooked around his thigh. He could barely breathe, eyes fluttering, knowing what was coming and savoring every second of it. It was as if everything played out and played over in his head, on some kind of loop of pleasure and pain.

It wasn’t enough to let the Force touch him. Kylo wanted both hands on him. He gripped Arrik’s cock with a tight hand, his palm rough as it moved on him with each stroke. Knocking him forward on each thrust, he growled against his ear.

“So tell me what you want.” He shoved him back down onto his hands and knees, hearing the breath whistle as he inhaled. “Don’t you have orders to give, general?”

“Harder,” Hux murmured, his arms shaking as he held himself up. He was rocking slightly hands gripping the sheets. «Harder.» Where his voice was soft, his thought was sharp and strong, an order exactly as Kylo had asked for it.

«Harder,» he snapped again, every part of his body warm and alight, and he moaned again. He was so close, and Kylo was pushing him closer with every thrust.

The dagger clarity of Arrik’s voice in his head pushed Kylo closer. He felt the pressure in the room, the strange atmosphere that pressed against his eardrums. He’d lost track of a set rhythm, letting his body pull him forward into Arrik’s, moaning at the drag of the other man’s tight muscles around his cock when he drew back.

«I’d split you open, if I could,» he muttered into his head, words falling over one another, sounds constructed from images. «I’d hear your voice ragged from screaming. Someday, I’ll hunt you down and, when I catch you, I’ll hold you down and smell your blood under me.»

Arrik laughed, sharply, and pulled on his sheets. He was too close to coming to reply, but he sent back murmured agreements, latent desire, the hot humidity of the jungle pressing around them. The intensity of it all was too much. He didn’t have enough in him to make a snappy retort, he wasn’t able to think straight, instead his thoughts came out in images and feelings, sent through their connection and then ricocheted back. He felt the jungle, the mist, the blaster, the hunt, he felt the pounding chase, the intimacy of it all, and it all caught in his throat.

Their connection was too strong, Kylo’s presence was too close, the Knight’s hand was tight and rough around his cock, and at the most basic level Kylo Ren was hung and Arrik was getting well and truly fucked. Kylo was thrusting into him, and as the knight jerked his hips at the right angle a few times over, Arrik came, gasping, a jutting cry stopping halfway out of his throat.

Kylo dragged him up against him again, using the Force to pull him up to kneeling with his back straight as his muscles shuddered through his release. He crashed into him, against him, wanting to absorb every second of this fight. He couldn’t let himself come yet; he needed to take as much as he could from this, from knowing that Arrik could hardly breathe, could hardly keep himself upright without Kylo’s power holding him there, that the room was too hot for an ice planet, that the bed was wrecked and the general wouldn’t be able to sleep on these sheets tonight. His own body had tightened and it was too soon, too much.

He wanted to hear his name again.

“Say it,” he grunted breathlessly, still pounding into the other man. He focused on Arrik’s gasps, his open mouth, his taut, slick body. “Say my name.”

“Ben,” Arrik murmured, pressed against Kylo’s chest, mouth open, almost begging. This was incredible, it was too much. “Ben.”

Kylo Ren dragged his nails across Arrik’s belly as though he’d tear him open and spill him onto the dirty sheets. He could feel the growing stress in Hux’s body, feel his heart straining with the loss of oxygen. It was too much, all of it.

He half screamed like an animal bringing down a kill, like an animal that had been killed, as he came. He pumped his release into Arrik, knocking him forward and holding his hip as he finished in him. The unseen grip on Arrik’s throat was gone as Kylo leaned over his back, taking long, deep breaths.

Arrik gasped, rough and unsteady on his hands and knees again. He wasn’t used to being used like this, easily pushed and tossed around, but with Kylo he knew what he would do before he laid a hand on him. He knew where Kylo would want him, how he would touch him, and it was only in the half second before it happened when he realized it, but it was just enough to make Arrik feel as if he had a choice.

He was shaking, and he slid to lie down on the soiled covers. Turning, he pulled Kylo down next to him, not caring about the mess. He was still breathing hard, his throat sore, his whole body sore as he wrapped his arms around the Knight, dragging him close.

For some reason, Kylo let him, not putting much thought into anything as he caught his breath. His body was still unwinding from the core outward, tension that had built up for days seeping out of his muscles. His mind was blessedly blank, and lying back with Arrik Hux seemed natural, the sleep one earned after a battle.

He didn’t look at him or speak to him; he didn’t turn his head to kiss his ear as he might have back in his other life. He just lay beside him and stared up at the stark, clean ceiling and didn’t notice until it had already happened that their breathing was in sync. Telling himself that Arrik had matched him, Kylo knew he was lying to himself. He was the one who felt everything about the general through the Force; it had been him matching himself to Arrik.

The general was falling asleep, and quickly. He roughly pushed aside the dirty covers and ignored the slightly uncomfortable mess between his legs as he pulled the blankets up over him and Kylo. Anything that needed him would wait until the morning.

He settled next to Kylo, still touching him, not curled around him, and let himself relax. Even if someone did come into his room, they wouldn’t make it out alive. The question would be whether he or Kylo killed the intruder first.


End file.
